Teaching Darkness: Deleted Scenes
by Rae Logan
Summary: Ever wonder what didn't make it to the stories? What was changed? What was considered? Read about the story of Mephiles and his friends as it was considered.
1. When Mephiles Came To Live With Them

Finally! I've managed to get a couple of deleted scenes done! :dance:

This set of chapters will be updated not the order they take place, but I will try to position them to land where they should. Meaning don't be alarmed if the most "recent" was supposedly posted. Just look around, and you might find the new ones :D

The one I chose to kick it off is from one of my original concepts of how Mephiles ends up living with Shadow and Rouge. I found the old storyline on some old paper, so I typed it up :D

This takes place three days after "Teaching Darkness"

* * *

Shadow sniffled. That cold that he had caught during the time Mephiles was in his mind was still with him, but it was on its last run. He held back a sneeze as he rummaged through the fridge for some milk to put in his tea.

They were out.

He quickly turned his head away to sneeze and spotted a hand written note magneted to the fridge door.

_-Shadow,_

_Left to pick up milk._

_Don't freak out… I'll_

_be back before noon._

_-Rouge._

He rolled his eyes. He knew he didn't freak out if she was gone for too long… right?

He shrugged it off and added honey and sugar to his tea instead.

Sitting down on the couch, he picked up the remote to look through the channels. Morning programming was usually aimed at for younger viewers, and he wasn't going to sit through one of those right now.

Around half past eleven, Shadow looked away from the television to look at the door.

Rouge was back, and she had brought someone with her.

Shadow narrowed his eyes at the sight of the crystal tipped hedgehog she was toting on her back, who seemed like he wasn't conscious. His pale muzzle was lighter in color than it had been on their last meeting, and a shudder ran through him every few seconds. His fur was messy and matted, caked with dried mud and covered in a layer of dirt, and he looked like he hadn't eaten in days, since he seemed much thinner than the last time they saw him. He seemed like a mess in both senses of the term.

"I assume that you didn't get the milk?" Shadow said, finding that more important.

Rouge shot him a death stare that he countered with one of his own. She took a deep breath and sighed.

"Look, Shadow… I know you hate him…"

"'Hate' is such a strong word… but it doesn't even begin to descr-"

"_But!_" Rouge cut across him swiftly, determined to get him to see the situation the way she did. "I found him passed out back in downtown. Apparently, he's been wandering around since last week, and he doesn't seem to have recovered from his cold yet… I couldn't just leave him there…"

"Yes, you could have…" Shadow muted the infomercial about "Life Alert" and turned his full attention to the two. "It's simple really… you just look at him, and keep on walking…"

"Shadow! He helped us out!"

"And I care why?"

"If it wasn't for him, both of us would have been dead!"

"If it wasn't for him, it wouldn't have gotten to that point!"

"He still saved us both!"

Shadow opened his mouth to speak, and closed it again. Dang… he couldn't counter that.

"Whatever…" He said, getting up. "But, he's _your _problem…" He picked up his now empty mug and headed for the kitchen.

Rouge sighed and nodded with a bit of a smile. Taking care as to not harm him, Rouge carefully got Mephiles on the couch, getting him to lie on his back. Taking off one of her gloves, she placed a hand against his forehead and made the first decision in his recovery.

"Hey, Shadow?" She called as Shadow paused while cleaning his mug, his ears flattening in annoyance. "Can you get an ice pack out of the freezer, and wrap it in a dishtowel? He has a fever…"

"You're babying him!" Shadow exclaimed in disbelief as he complied and slapped it in her hand. "You're totally going to baby him, aren't you?!"

"No… I'm just trying to help him…"

"Are you sure? Because it sure seems like it…" He blinked. "Hey… he's not gonna sleep on the couch, is he?"

"Where else he going to be?"

"Then where do _I _sleep?"

"You can have the floor…"

Shadow blinked. And blinked. And blinked. And blinked and picked at his ears.

"I might have heard you wrong… but did you just say that I could sleep on the floor?"

"I did…"

"Ouch…"

A sputtering cough caught both their attentions. A deep, raspy, dry and sputtering cough as Mephiles started to come to. Trying hard to sit up, he leaned his weight into his arm to keep himself steady, and coughed again to try to clear his throat. He sniffed thickly and opened his eyes wearily, Shadow clenching his teeth together as he tried to not jump at him.

The cat slit-pupils were almost round, a sign that they were dilated, and possibly his vision was impaired. His sclera and irises were dull and lackluster, as if to help clarify the previous theory. Mephiles tilted his head questioningly as he squinted a little to see a bit more clearly, his expression brightening at the sight of Rouge.

"… You're that bat…" He said quietly, nodding to himself. "… Rouge… was it?"

Shadow was about to make a harsh comment, when Rouge smacked him in the back of the head.

His cry of pain caught Mephiles' attention. He actually hadn't noticed Shadow was there at all. He shifted his eyes to the red and black hedgehog and said; "… Oh… Hello, Shadow… how are you..?" as if he had forgotten about the week previous.

Shadow gritted his teeth together, grinding his fangs together, and wearing down the sharpness slightly. He tried to set aside the fact that Mephiles had turned him into a monster, that he had made him hurt his best friends, that he invaded his mind and body… and took over his sleeping spot on the couch.

He forced out a: "Fine…" through his teeth.

"So!" Rouge said, trying to break the ice. "How are you feeling?"

"… I can barely breathe… and I can't seem to get rid of this chill… even though my forehead feels hot…" Mephiles murmured, closing his eyes and shaking his head slowly, coughing again before sneezing. "… I don't know… what's wrong with me…"

"You've never been sick before?"

"No… the scepter didn't have germs… or anything like that in there…"

"So… this is… the first time you've ever been ill?" Rouge said slowly, putting two and two together. "That's about ten years without any contact with any germs… your immune system must be pretty weak…"

"… Eh..? Weak..?"

"Your body lacks any antibodies to fight off bacteria…"

"… How much of that stuff… is around here?"

"It's everywhere."

Rouge and Shadow could have sworn they saw him get paler at that.

"… How do I live… if these germs keep coming at me..? How do you do it..?"

"Well, you start by gaining a tolerance after getting sick the first time…" Rouge said, finding this a bit awkward to have to explain this to Mephiles. As she did, she wondered what else he didn't know.

"… So… if I get sick again… it won't be as bad as the first..?"

"In theory…"

"… F-fascinating…" He said, scratching his ear and looking back up her, some pieces of dirt coming loose and falling off. "… That solves one mystery to me… perhaps you can help me with another..?"

"Which would be..?"

Mephiles tried to stifle a laugh, his muzzle darkening a bit.

"… It's a bit awkward…" He folded his ears back, giving a nervous smile. "… But for the past few days… there's been a bit of a gnawing feeling in my stomach… that's been getting more noticeable as the days go by…"

Almost immediately, a low growl had sounded form his stomach and he blushed from embarrassment.

"… That's been happening as well…" He said, looking at the ground and trying to muffle a cough. "… And it's a complete mystery to me…"

Rouge was about to explain it to him, before Shadow burst out laughing, prompting Mephiles to fold his ears more, sink a bit, clench his teeth and close his eyes.

"You don't know how to _eat?!_" Shadow said between laughs, not noticing that this was making Mephiles a bit uncomfortable. "Geeze! And you said you were the _brains_ of Solaris! Hah!"

He was cut off sharply when Rouge knocked him in the back of the head with a book that was on the coffee table. He yelped and held at the point of impact, but still snickered under his breath.

"Forgive Shadow…" Rouge said apologetically, glaring at the hedgehog in question. "He's not usually so insensitive…"

"… He's right though… I don't know how to eat… I didn't think I needed to…"

"Mephiles… you're a hedgehog now…" Rouge said, holding the book up again as a warning to Shadow, who had yet to let up on his laughing at the crystal hedgehog. "A real hedgehog and not just a shadow… eating is a top priority to survive. It looks like you're going to need help getting used to all this…"

_Please don't tell me she's going to say what I think she's going to say… _Shadow said to himself. _Please don't…_

"Looks like you'll have to stay here…"

Shadow had a mental image of himself toppling over in a moment of sudden paralysis.

"… Really..?" Mephiles said in disbelief.

Shadow imagined himself twitching on the ground.

"Sure… I don't see why not…" Rouge added.

Shadow gave a mental cry of anguish, yet he stayed emotionless.

Mephiles' dull eyes lit up briefly before suddenly, his expression shifted t downcast.

"What's wrong?"

"… I… really feel like… I don't deserve this…" He explained, shaking his head and looking away. "… After all I did… and what almost happened… I don't think I deserve that…"

"You did help us, and that changes things…"

"… And you helped me… and I'm willing to just forget all the bad stuff… and stat over, and maybe be friends..?" At the last part, he directed it more towards Shadow with a hopeful expression.

Shadow wanted to laugh again, but the thought of a book slamming into the back of his head for the third time just didn't seem worth it.

"You're lucky you're sick, otherwise I would have told you to get out of the house…" He said quite coolly. "Because I don't particularly enjoy being the cause of a worse turn for illness or death, which you may experience if no one tends to you… I won't say it…"

The book smacked into his head anyway.

"_I was saying that he could stay, Rouge!_" Shadow barked, holding both hands to his head, glaring at the bat.

"… Th-thank you, Sh-shadow…" Mephiles stammered again, laughing nervously as he drummed his fingertips together in a flittery and unpredictable pattern. "… I'll try really hard t-to be a good friend…"

"I _said_ you could stay… that doesn't make you my friend…" Shadow shot at him coldly, dodging another hit from the book once he predicted Rouge's pattern.

Mephiles looked away again as his expression faded into discouragement.

"… Oh… Okay… th-thank you anyway…"

"Well, we should get started on teaching you the basics…" Rouge said, naming off the things and counting them off on her fingers, still glaring at Shadow. "Eating, drinking, sleeping… we could do 'bathroom' later… maybe Shadow might explain, because I wouldn't be able to for you, being as you're a male, and I'm not. Oh, and we should think about getting your fur cleaned up… the fur is usually a visual representation of your health. The nicer and well kept it is, the better you feel."

"… How do we do that..?"

"With soap, shampoo and water."

"… W-water..? As in what I almost _drowned_ in?" A flicker of fear flashed across Mephiles' face. The memory of nearly dying from a stupid mistake was definitely unnerving to him.

"Kinda… It's not as much and not very likely to have a problem."

"… But I can't swim…"

"You won't need too. It's not very deep."

Mephiles was weighing the options. On one hand… he hated and feared water. Absolutely despised it. On the other… the dirt had worked its way through the fur and to his skin, causing it to itch badly.

He chose to try it. The itching was driving him crazy anyway.

"… Okay… I'll try it…"

"Okay. First, we might want to let you eat something before you pass out again."

"… Does it help..?"

"Pretty much. If you don't eat enough, it can be bad for you…"

"… I see…"

"Since this is your first time, we need to pick something that gives to you a good impression of how food tastes."

"… Is it all the same..?"

"No… there's an endless amount of flavors and combinations."

"… That sounds like fun…"

Mephiles seemed a bit excited, causing Rouge to laugh as Shadow glared.

Yep… Shadow was going to need some time to get used to this…

* * *

Yep, Shadow wasn't quite pleasant to Mephiles when he moved in... :D


	2. Whisper

This one has a bit of a dark tone to it. Set three months before "Teaching Darkness" and after "Teaching Darkness: Visions", this was to introduce the concept of Dark and Mephiles' absence seizures. If you remember, Mephiles was having supposedly having problems for a while, though Shadow had recently taken notice and began to worry. Here, Rouge knew well before him.

The lyrics are from "Whisper" by Evanescence. I feel this song really fits the overall feel.

* * *

Mephiles stared into the mirror intently, taking in his appearance. Nothing out of the ordinary for him… it was always the same…

Examining his eyes, he took note of how he hated how they had become. They were mere pale likenesses of the eyes of that demon that resided in him… Dull and pale… tired and weak…

He was nothing at all like his former self. A shadow really… he was a shadow… just like the shadow he was when he was created… the old him…

_Catch me as I fall  
Say you're here and it's all over now  
_

"… Dark… Tell me…" Mephiles murmured, shaking his head slowly, never taking his eyes off his reflection. He felt a surge of hatred run through him at the thought of his doppelganger. He clenched his teeth together so tightly, that his jaw was beginning to hurt. He had given Dark his name almost automatically, as if he was meant to all him that. "… Why do you exist..? How did you come to be..? And why me..?"

As if waiting for an answer, he stayed silent, his eyes locked with his own, a hand coming up slowly and matching itself on the mirror.

Finally, he sighed, and bowed his head dejectedly as he decided that it was a stupid question to ask.

_Speaking to the atmosphere  
No one's here and I fall into myself  
_

He looked up, then something caught his eye and he gasped harshly, his breath catching in his throat painfully.

Acting out in fear, he charged his hand up with Chaos Energy and swiped it into the glass, shattering it into countless shards that scattered across the floor and in the sink in the explosion of the energy.

Standing there, on edge and shaking, Mephiles eased a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes as he panted, shaking his head.

He thought he had seen a flicker of change behind his eyes. A darkening of red and brightening of green to where it had an eerie glow. Chilling, and somewhat mesmerizing if you weren't frozen with fright. He thought he did…

Holding his breath, he risked a glimpse into the remaining shards that hung loosely in the frame that once held a mirror.

_This truth…_

A distorted mirror image, reflected back in pieces, several of which reflecting his eyes, stared back, just as scared as he was. Pale eyes were wide, and several pieces reflected his ill appearance in installments.

He hadn't tended to his personal needs in days. His fur was beginning to look ratty and sticky from the cold sweat from waking up abruptly in the dark for the past few nights, his dreams haunted by his former life and what he had done.

_Drives me…_

His already thin body was thinner from lack of eating properly, something he was still trying to make a habit.

His previously bent quills hung quite limply now, the spines losing their stiffness from lack of care.

His eyes had dark lines under them from insufficient sleep, giving him an ill look to his pale face.

He was simply a mess.

_Into…_

He winced and clapped a hand to his forearm with a hiss of pain. His eyes trailed down and widened as he lifted his hand to find that a few glass shards had embedded in his arm, and he was now bleeding from the wounds.

His stomach turned uncomfortably. He never did like the sight of the crimson liquid… it always made him feel sick…

He stumbled back and leaned into the wall, panting like mad as the air started to feel heavy and hard to breathe…

_Madness…_

He slid down and closed his eyes, a wheezy laugh escaping himself as a sense of madness came over him briefly, though he sure it was not his own…

The laugh shook him as he hung his head limply, his eyes listless as his mind tried to sort this for him…

"… Dark… Heh… you're still there, huh..?"

His head felt inclined to nod slowly, which it did as his response.

"… Leave me alone… you have no business still being here…"

_You really don't remember, do you..?_

Mephiles' head snapped up at the words, wondering where he had heard them. No, not heard, really… more like it had played in his mind. It was his voice, it seemed, but also not…

"… H-hello..?" He stammered, clutching his arm tighter as he tensed up. His arm started to feel numb, the crystal hand giving no circulation to it. He shook his head and looked back at the tiles. "… Must have thought it up…"

_I know I can stop the pain if I will it all away_

Still, an interesting question was raised. What did the voice mean by "remembering"? Remembering what?

He knew everything about himself, right?

Except…

There was a blank between some point after being sealed in the scepter and breaking free…

_Don't turn away  
(Don't give in to the pain)_

To tell the truth, his mind was foggy about the whole ordeal that landed him here. He saw that as almost a dream sometimes… No. Not a dream… it wasn't at all pleasant…

"Mephiles..?"

His head snapped back up at the sound his name. Rouge was standing in the doorway, leaning in halfway, staring at him with concern. Her eyes scanned the scene before her and she asked: "What happened in here? Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost…"

"… Ghosts don't exist…" He murmured needlessly, shaking his head and looking away.

_Don't try to hide  
(Though they're screaming your name)_

"Can never be too sure. But, what happened? The mirror's broken and I heard something." The bat's sensitive nose picked up the scent reminiscent to pennies, and she widened her eyes a bit. "Are you hurt? I smell blood…"

Mephiles reluctantly lifted his hand to reveal his injury, blood covering his palm from having shifted a few times, digging the glass bits deeper.

Rouge gasped softly as Mephiles paled a bit more.

_Don't close your eyes  
(God knows what lies behind them)_

"How'd this happen?"

"… The mirror… shattered…" He said, determined not to make eye contact with her. "… I… thought I saw something… so I broke it without meaning to…"

"We'd better take care of this before you get an infection…" She said, coming in and pulling a first aid kit out of the cabinet under the sink. "I'll need to get some tweezers though; otherwise it'll be hard to remove the glass."

"… Uh, huh…" Mephiles nodded numbly, his eyes somewhat out of focus as if his was starting to daydream.

_Don't turn out the light  
(Never sleep, never die)  
_

Rouge looked up at the tone his voice had carried and turned her attention back to him. He was staring at nothing in particular with a blank expression on his pale face, his mouth half open as well as his emotionless eyes.

She looked at him with concern and for a moment dropped what she was doing and turned around to be in front of him. He didn't acknowledge her presence, or even blinked, but he was breathing in a slow pattern, his eyes never leaving what they were staring at. She waved a hand in front of his face to get his attention, but it didn't work.

When Rouge paused to think about what to do about this, Mephiles blinked and shifted his eyes to stare at her.

"… Why are you this close..?" He seemed a bit confused, the expression etched into his face. "… You were over there… right..?"

"You just kinda zoned out for a moment…" She said slowly, taking note now of his ill appearance and wondered what was going on. "… When was the last time you ate anything?"

_I'm frightened by what I see  
But somehow I know that there's much more to come_

"… I dunno… yesterday morning… day before, maybe..?"

"You need to be eating at least two to three times a _day…_ And your fur is a mess!" Rouge exclaimed once she began processing all of his maladies, before retrieving the first aid kit and tweezers to begin tending to his wounds. "You look very sick, what's wrong?"

"… I don't even understand it…" Mephiles closed his eyes and sighed weakly, shaking his head lightly. "… It's been three months now… and it still feels like I'm adjusting to everything… It's driving me mad… and with Dark around…"

"Dark?" Rouge raised an eyebrow as she pulled a tooth-sized shard of glass from his arm carefully.

"… It's the name I'm giving to my old self… Dark… like what I was…" He trailed off for a moment before a small jagged shard was pulled, though it felt like now care was put into taking it out because of jagged edges. He clenched his teeth. "… He still lurks around the corners of my mind… I can feel him there, waiting for his chance… I'm afraid that he might corrupt me or something…"

_Immobilized by my fear  
And soon to be blinded by tears  
_

Mephiles didn't know why he was telling her all of this, but something was telling him that she'd listen.

"… I think when you made that wish on the Emerald… you only suppressed him rather than get rid of him altogether… Sometimes I can feel his personality clashing so much with mine… that I can hardly sort the two of us apart… I can hardly even remember what part of me was me before I was him…"

"Nothing?"

He shook his head.

"… I can't even remember what I was like before I turned bad… I know I _must_ have been good at some point… nobody is born bad, right..?"

"That's what is said." Rouge said, carefully removing the final piece of glass and pulling some gauze and disinfectant out of the kit. "What we are and what we become is based off of what we chose, what happens to us, who is with us, what we feel, and how we deal with it…" She pulled his arm forward. "This may sting a bit…" She warned as she uncapped the bottle and poured some on a clean cloth, holding it over the injury.

_I can stop the pain if I will it all away_

"… What are you-?" He was cut off by his own howl of pain, yanking his arm from her, clutching it close to his chest as he glared at her. "What was _that?!_"

"Hydrogen Peroxide."

"It _burns!_" He seethed at her, not liking that he had felt that much pain in such a concentrated spot. He looked down and his eyes widened at the sight of the blood bubbling up in a white, fizzy foam that suddenly died down as quickly as he had seen it.

"That means that killed that much germs that would end up hurting you at least ten times as much…" She reassured, trying to coax him to let her see his arm again, Mephiles very reluctant in doing so. "Come on, I'm just going to wrap your arm now. Nothing painful about that."

"…………."

_Don't turn away  
(Don't give in to the pain)_

Mephiles hesitantly held out his arm and she did just as she said she would. Taking some gauze to overlay the gouges, she held them in place with self stick wrapping bandages, a rather useful thing when the injured in question had fur. It clung to itself, but not the one it wrapped. Mephiles was fascinated by this, even if it was a bright purple colored wrapping.

"Sorry. They were only selling that color at the time…" Rouge said apologetically.

"… It's nothing, really… Your kind has some interesting items in recovery that fascinate me to no means…"

Rouge laughed at this.

"Mephiles, you're a hedgehog now… so 'they're' your kind too now…"

"… Sorry, I keep forgetting that…"

"I'm not blaming you…" She said. "Let's see about getting you something to eat now, you look like you're starving yourself…"

"... I dunno… I don't think my stomach can handle anything right now…" His pale face turned red from awkwardness. "… I tried last time, and… I kinda got real sick afterwards…"

"What did you eat?"

"… I honestly can't remember… I remember my tongue and mouth burning after I ate it though… my stomach too… I just felt horrible…"

"It was probably something spicy. Several people can get sick from that."

"… So… it's normal..?"

"Pretty much." She said. "How about if we try soup? That's always good, and great if you don't feel well."

"… I'll try it…" Mephiles sighed. "… But I can't guarantee that I can keep it down…"

"There shouldn't be a problem." Rouge said reassuringly as she helped him up, taking note that he wasn't very heavy at all. Wondering if it was normal for him, or just because he hadn't eaten well for a while, she shook her head lightly. "Come on; let's go into the kitchen…"

Mephiles clasped a hand to his head and nodded slowly, eyes half open. He was starting to feel a little lightheaded, and tilted his head back to try to counter it.

"Are you okay?"

"… Just a bit dizzy… is all…" He forced a smile to show that he was okay. "… A bit tired really… probably from not sleeping enough…"

Then he muttered something about having not needed to worry about that kind of stuff a few months ago.

_Don't try to hide  
(Though they're screaming your name) _

Rouge forced a laugh, not sure about how to react to that, and led him to the kitchen, pulling a chair out for him.

"This'll only take about ten minutes…" She said as she started to dig through the pantry for a can of soup. She found several kinds, but settled on choosing Chicken Noodle. There was chowder of some kind, but she decided against it, since the large chunks of potatoes might be a bit too much on Mephiles' stomach, which she had noticed it was acting up on him the week before.

She emptied the can into a bowl, and poured some water into it before putting it into the microwave, setting it for three minutes.

"… You said it would take ten…"

"Need to let it cool down too… or you'd burn your tongue…"

"… Oh… right…" Mephiles' eyes started to drift shut for a moment as he rested his head on the table, his exhaustion catching up with him.

_Don't close your eyes  
(God knows what lies behind them) _

Rouge waited until the soup had cooled down before she tried to wake him up. Almost immediately at her touch, he snorted awake, eyes wide and staring as he stared ahead blankly, adopting that daydream stare almost as soon as he woke up.

Rouge waved a hand in front of his face again, only to receive nothing as a response.

_Something must be wrong with him if he keeps getting that stare. I read something about this before… I think it was a type of seizure… Absence seizure..?_

Mephiles suddenly blinked and looked up, almost as if he hadn't zoned out at all.

"… Sorry… I must have fallen asleep…" He grinned nervously, obviously unaware of his blacking out.

_Don't turn out the light  
(Never sleep, never die)_

Rouge eyed him with concern before retrieving the soup and handing it to him.

"Here… eat this…" Rouge set it down and gave him a spoon. "You don't have to eat all of it if you start feeling sick… but at least go for half."

Mephiles nodded and started to eat the soup. Rouge took not of how he was holding the spoon. His hand was wrapped around it tightly, instead of it resting in his fingers. In other words, he held the spoon like a child.

_He's only really ten years old if you do the math from the Soleanna Disaster…_ She told herself. _And he's still new to this, so it's almost like giving the spoon to a toddler…_

Mephiles looked up, realizing that she was watching him with a bit of an evaluating look on her face. He folded his ears back.

"… What..?"

"Nothing…" She said. "… How… how old do you think you are?"

"… I dunno… I can't really remember if I was created in the accident, or if I was an animal experimented on by the scientists before this happened… It's like any real memory of that is gone… all I can really remember is when… when I…" Mephiles trailed off for a moment, his brow furrowed in deep thought.

Suddenly, he dropped the spoon and clutched his head with a cry of agony as a sharp pain shot through it, prompting him to scream loud enough that a spark of purple Chaos Energy shot at the microwave and blew it up.

_(Fallen angels at my feet)  
(Whispered voices at my ear)  
(Death before my eyes)  
(Lying next to me, I fear)  
_

"_AHH!_"

"_Mephiles! _What's wrong?!" Rouge was alarmed when this happened so quickly. She noticed that where he was clutching at on his head was exactly where he had been head butted a few months prior. A relapse of pain of some kind, maybe? But, if so… why so late..?

Mephiles whimpered for a moment, clenching his teeth together tightly as he twitched, his entire body curling in as he whispered: "_… Ah… Ah… I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I won't do it again, Dark… Please stop… it hurts… Ah… Ah…_"

His voice had adopted a younger tone to it, scared, possibly even terrified. He shook his head from side to side as if he was trying to break free of a nightmare in his sleep.

"… _I didn't mean to! Please stop it!_"

_(She beckons me, shall I give in)  
(Upon my end, shall I begin)  
(Forsaking all I've fallen, for I rise to meet the end)_

Finally, with a scream, he stopped, letting his arms drop to his sides as he panted heavily, visibly shaken.

"What _happened?_" Rouge asked a bit loudly, very worried by this. "You were in pain or something…"

Mephiles gave her a confused look, wondering what she was talking about. Then it flashed through his mind what had happened… or what he understood, at least.

"… I dunno… but something doesn't _want_ me to remember that part of me…" He said, bringing his hand to his head and clenching it lightly.

_Don't turn away  
(Don't give in to the pain)_

"You sounded like you were begging… Dark… to stop hurting you…"

"… I did..?" Mephiles obvious couldn't remember this. "I… dunno…"

"You almost sounded a bit younger there, too…" Rouge added seemingly needlessly. "Maybe a resurface of you from a long time ago?"

Mephiles' pale face turned a visible shade of a light cream color, as if the little color drained from his face.

He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes and growled in a darker voice: "_Will you quit prying? You're just giving him a headache…_"

_Don't try to hide  
(Though they're screaming your name)_

Rouge was taken aback by this and to a step back cautiously, wondering when Shadow would be home.

"M-mephiles..?"

Mephiles blinked and gasped, bringing his hands to his face.

"… Th-that wasn't me! I didn't say that! I'm sorry!" Tears started to form in his eyes quickly, taking no time in falling.

Rouge stared at him, a bit dumbstruck as he started howling apologies, tugging at his ears, gasping between sentences.

It occurred to Rouge that Mephiles might be a sufferer of Dissociative Identity Disorder, as she could see from his reference of another side of him. It was quite possible that Mephiles might have a few mental disorders, but for now, it seemed harmless.

"Calm down… you did nothing wrong…" She said, taking a couple steps forward.

_Don't close your eyes  
(God knows what lies behind them)_

Mephiles' eyes stared blankly again, that daydream look taking hold again. Rouge frowned. Now she was sure he had absence seizures. But how did he get them? He didn't do that when he was inside Shadow's mind… unless this was from getting hit in the head by Shadow.

Mephiles continued to stare before blinking, shaking his head slowly.

"… I'm sorry… you probably think I'm insane by now…" He looked away sadly, sighing heavily, still unaware of his zoning out.

Rouge stopped. Did Mephiles sense that from her? Was she that obvious?

"What make you say that?" She asked.

Mephiles held up his wrapped arm first before explaining.

"This, what just happened, the fact that I haven't really taken care of myself, that I broke the mirror because I thought I saw him, that I keep taking about him, that I can't really remember much of anything, that I have the appearance of one who is insane right now…" Mephiles said miserably, resting his head on the table, his arms under it, wincing when he put weight on his injury. Then he whispered softly, closing his eyes: "_… I'm not insane…_"

_Don't turn out the light  
(Never sleep, never die)  
_

He faded off into a soft snore, having fallen fast asleep.

Rouge sighed as she felt pity for him, watching him carefully before deciding that she should take him to the living room to sleep on the couch.

Slipping an arm over her neck and bracing him carefully as she pulled him out of the chair, Mephiles moaning softly from being moved. She half dragged, half carried him to the couch, and set him down, where he rolled over and curled up, wrapping his spiky tail close to his body as she pulled a blanket over him.

Rouge sighed.

This was going to be a lot of work…

* * *

If you couldn't guess, Dark was supressing Mephiles' memories, thus causing Mephiles to clutch his head in pain. The younger voice thing was Mephiles in his earlier days begging Dark to stop... a moment set after the most recent recovered memory in "Teaching Darkness: Memories".

By this point, Dark is aware that Mephiles is catching on to what really hapened, so he tried to stop him from thinking about it, and Mephiles didn't know Dark had stopped him.

Hope you like this one :D


	3. Memories Deleted Scene 1

Wow... haven't updated the Deleted Scenes in FOREVER!

I found a couple of ommited things from Memories, that kinda have different versions of some eventually used concepts. This one was written half way through Memories during a block, and instead, I got it going by being in Dark's POV... which I think wasn't really used yet. ^^;

Don't know exactly what was going on... but it just kinda flowed ^^;

* * *

(Dark's POV)

I stopped talking, letting my mind wander for a moment as I thought.

Bad idea, as it turned out... very bad idea.

As you probably figured by now, Brother makes me very uneasy, and any of thoughts of him could easily make my bodily function take a wrong turn, pushing upon that bothersome feeling of fear on me. How I choose to deal with it decides whether or not it progresses... and one of many outcomes can happen.

And I only have a split second to decide what happens next... not much time at all.

Taking that moment to pause and think might have been one of my stupider ideas.

I'm not quite sure what happened in between, but the next thing I knew, I was breathing deeply and hardly pausing between each breath. I couldn't help it... breathing is an instinct and I don't have much of a say in how my lungs tell me to breathe to keep from fainting.

Shifting my eyes over to the side, I found Mephy Boy staring at me with that stupid concerned look he gets whenever _anything _happens to me. I don't have to be psychic to know what he's probably going to say next... he's way too predictable. Of course he's going to start with saying my name, then asking if I'm alright...

Obviously not if my breathing suddenly decided to jack itself up in pace, you dumb hedgehog. That's what I wanted to say, but I could only manage a shaky nod of the head. God... I must have looked so weak right then if I couldn't so much as force out an "I'm fine..." without a stutter.

Of course, he's not convinced. He's going to ask again, as if he thought that I wasn't really hearing him. I can hear him just fine...

Oh, fan-freaking-tastic... as if this wasn't bad enough, I could feel my heart pounding now. Limbs felt weak and shaky. The fur all down my back was damp with sweat. My stomach was starting to feel uncomfortable... I felt like I might vomit in a few minutes if I didn't calm down. If that happened, I'd just curl up on the floor and die of embarrassment to further illustrate how much I was despising this.

And of course, the hedgehog won't leave me alone. I swallow back a lump in my throat as well as a biting comment that I had had ready to use before I decided against it, feeling that if I opened my mouth to speak, I'd be violently sick before I could force out the first few words.

He caught me by the arms before I collapsed on the ground. I had suddenly felt too weak to support my own weight just as soon as a stabbing pain pierced into my chest as I clawed helplessly at the white fur that decorated it.

Then it happened.

I was consumed with such an intense and unexplainable fear that afterwards, I was ashamed to be myself. I had no control over what I said or did, and I can only guess what I must have been doing.

I think I must have tried to pull away from Mephiles. The bites and scratches on his arms tell me that much. I must have been screaming, because I remember hearing a screech or two. Numbness started to spread throughout my body; an unpleasant pins and needles feeling starting at my fingers, down my arms, passing my queasy stomach (Which, might I add, did not help matters in the slightest.) and making its way to my feet. By the time it got to there, my entire body felt weak and my eyes rolled upward as my eyelids drooped from exhaustion...

I hate that. I really do. It bad enough that it happened... but the fact that Mephy was there, seeing the whole thing, made me want to crawl under a rock somewhere and wait for that meteor I've heard stories about to come by and wipe out all life here so I wouldn't have to deal with all of this. My pride has been getting bruised a lot recently... so much for that reputation I had. Fwoosh... down the drain... just like that...

I come to, just enough to see where I'm at now. Lifting my eyelids just a little, I saw that the hedgehog had pulled me to the couch, I guess. Figures. He does that all the time. Not that that isn't a smart move or anything... I mean, he knows that the first thing to do is help the person feel a little more comfortable and all... but it makes me feel like I was too weak to do it myself. I was taking care of myself long before this happened... I'm independent, dang it!

Try to sit up, only to find that my heart started to pound again. My arms shook a little as they tried to support me as I lifted myself of my back to lean against the arm of the couch and sit upright. Not too impairing... once I'm sitting how I want to, I can start to feel better.

Smack his hand away when he tries to check for a fever... I keep telling him to keep his hands off me. Physical contact makes my skin crawl... I've been so isolated for so long that I become pretty uncomfortable when something makes contact with me.

An easy to fix problem, really... just get away from me. Really, I mean it. And yet... Mephy just doesn't get it. Unlike me, he actually feels secure and comfortable if he can wrap his arms around someone... he's content with just leaning against them too, so much that he can fall asleep right then and there. That doesn't help me even in the slightest. Besides... he's probably narcoleptic, so the fact that he's tired quite often might be the contributing factor. And me... I'm pretty much an insomniac... can't sleep as easily, and spend many hours laying awake, waiting for it to happen.

Huh? What was that he said? Perk my ears up to listen more clearly, keeping my face stoic to hide what I'm really thinking...

Oh... he just thinks that I had a panic attack or something. I keep telling him I don't get them like he does.

"Dark, it would make sense..." He said. "I was watching you. You were totally freaking out and clutching your chest like it was in pain or something."

"_I wasn't panicking..._" I lied, knowing full well that I must have been. What can I say? It's in my nature and it's expected for me to lie like that to keep up this facade. I can't exactly give in and ask for a hug to make it all better because it's not going to happen. If I did... he'd think that I was ill again, and start that whole "diagnosis cycle" all over again. "_I'm perfectly fine... I was just... uh..._" Crud... didn't think that one all the way through. A couple stammers as I try to think up a reason quick, and Mephiles watches with concern... _Again_.

"If you don't remember... it might have been a... a seizure..." He said slowly, looking even more anxious while he get more and more worried. "Because you were weren't responding to what I was telling and asking you when it all started..."

A seizure? That's what he came up with? What do I say to that? This is something you shouldn't try to fake, since it's such a serious condition... but I don't want him to think that I had a panic attack because I thought the wrong thing... which is what happened.

"But... you were using your voice... so that's uncommon for seizures..." He said slowly, scratching behind his ear as he tried to piece it all together. It's sometimes amusing to watch him try to work out problems, and astounding to see how fast he can do it when he's having a good day.

"_It wasn't a seizure..._" I said flatly. I decided to more or less give the truth, even if I gave it slowly.

"You yourself can't be too sure, since you wouldn't remember any of it..."

"_I know that I bit you and screamed._" I could swear that I could almost see the dark glow of red across my face as I looked upward, knowing that my muzzle was beginning to flush out of embarrassment. "_I was very much aware that you were trying to restore order here, and I must have gotten a little out of hand..._"

"A little! You clawed me in the face!"

I looked back at him with a quick glance and saw that he was indeed right. Five very thin but somewhat deep looking scratches decorated the side of his cheek and across his muzzle. And of course... what's broken skin is without blood? Even if it's only a little...

I felt my own drain from my face slowly at the sight of it, prompting me to close my eyes and stick my nose in the air, pretending to not be phased by it at all, when in reality, it made my stomach turn uncomfortably knowing that I can easily cause such damage when my mind isn't right. And truthfully... Mephy doesn't deserve most of what I do to him, accident or not. And he just takes it... hardly brings it up, and hardly tries to stop it. I think he's afraid that I'm going get set off and explode in another rage fit if he agitated me, or something. Lift an eyelid to stare at him, watch him stare back in confusion as he touches his fingers to his face, wincing a little from the injury.

* * *

That ended there... ^^;


	4. Memories Deleted Scene 2

This had no real placement, and was originally intended to be put in as something to work around. It was dropped, but many things in here were eventually used anyway. You may spot them. ^^

* * *

Dark blinked and Ibis had disappeared from sight.

Getting a bit frantic, Dark turned his head from side to side as he searched for the fire demon. He didn't like not being able to keep and eye on him, considering what had happened to him after he lost track of Iblis a few times already.

"… _Looking for me, Little Brother..?_" Iblis' voice drifted into his ear, causing Dark to tense up and whip around to look behind himself, only to come face to face with Iblis, his nose just inches from his.

Dark caught his breath and jumped back, keeping his hands up in front of himself to be at the ready if this escalated into a physical fight.

"_Tell me something, Brother…_" Dark whispered, keeping his gaze level and direct with Iblis to show that he was equal or superior, whichever was interpreted first. "_Why do you like doing this to me?_"

"_Perhaps the same reason you do with your little chew toy…_" Iblis smirked and lifted his head a bit to stare downwards at Dark, showing that _he _was superior. He folded his arms before saying: "_And tell me… why do you like doing what you do and have done to Mephiles? You seem too thick to realize that all he wants to do is help you…_"

"_I realize that he wants to help…_" Dark growled, not happy about Iblis still treating him less than equal at least, and he stood up a bit straighter to keep his gaze level once more. "_But as I've told him, I don't want it. I don't need it. It's not important to me…_"

"… _And why is that..?_"

Dark stared at him for a moment before widening his eyes then glaring at him.

"_I know _exactly_ what you're trying to do here!_" He hissed, taking an offensive stance again. "_You're trying to get in my head and psyche me out! You want me to admit to my own failure so that you can use it against me!_"

"_Aw, I taught you well, Little Brother…_" Iblis clapped his hands in mock amusement before laughing. "_But for you to be aware of that tactic, you'd have to have failures that you are aware of…_"

Dark growled softly under his breath before uncurling his fists to hold his claws out.

"_Stop doing that!_"

"_Doing what, Darkie? I'm not doing anything… you're just getting mad over nothing…_"

Dark made a guttural sound and lunged at Iblis, slamming his body against the floorspace of Dark's mind. Dark leaned his weight into Iblis to keep him down as his hand found its way around his throat.

Iblis didn't even bat an eyelash.

"… _Is this the part where I'm supposed to be intimidated..? Because, it's not working…_"

A red glow was starting to emit from Dark, and Iblis smirked. Dark was going to release his anger and rage in the form of Chaos Energy.

But once Dark realized this, he powered down just a little, making the glow very dim.

"_You can't pull that trick on me…_" He whispered in his ear. "_I'm the brains, and I'm the smart one… And y'know something else? I'm not going to be afraid of you anymore…_"

To his surprise, Iblis snickered.

"_W-wha… What's so funny?_"

"… _Perhaps you aren't..._" Iblis laughed. "_… But you should see who's afraid of you right now…_"

Before Dark could say anything else, his mind was clouded briefly, and his head started to buzz. The vision of the torn up office in his mind faded from view slowly, and his ears were met with angry voices.

He blinked and the view of the living room back at the house became clearer, and he realized that he was on the floor. Something was squirming under his hand, and he shifted his eyes in its direction to see what it was. Never had he been so shocked and speechless in his entire existence.

Mephiles' female Chao was under his hand that was pinning her to the ground, her little Chao voice squealing. Dark noticed vaguely that he seemed to have knocked the eggshell off of her head, and could see that she had many of Mephiles' traits, such as markings and bottom set of downward pointing quills as well. Her pupil-less green eyes were round with terror.

"Dark! _LET HER GO!_" He heard Mephiles cry out in both fear and anger, obviously upset that his Chao was being hurt.

Still half in a daze, his mind started to register a few other things about this scene. The twin of this Chao was clamped onto his head and was biting him in the already torn ear, digging his little claws into his head as he kicked his back feet. The green striped Chao was hissing at him, puffing out his little quills as if he hoped that he could scare Dark into letting her go.

It was like his brain had shifted into a slow gear, and it had yet to cross his mind that in order to make it all stop, he just had to lift his hand.

A red and black body collided into the side of him, slamming him into the wall. Shadow uncurled and pinned the still dumbstruck Dark against it in a manner similar to what he had been doing to the Chao.

Dark tilted his head a little to the side to see past Shadow to see how the Chao was doing, watching Mephiles scoop her up off the ground and pull her close, the Chao shivering and whimpering.

Fingers were snapped in his face to get his attention again. He looked up, seeing Shadow baring his teeth at him, his eyes lighting up a little from the excess Chaos energy as well.

Already knowing that he was going to regret asking, he said: "_Wh-what happened?_"

"You know very well what happened!" Shadow growled. "I know you're not stupid!"

"_Then feel free to call me that, because I haven't a clue what happened here…_" Dark growled back, letting his fur start to prickle.

"You attacked Krystal!" Mephiles barked, keeping both his arms around her as she buried her face in his patch of white fur. The expression he was giving Dark was perhaps the most intense Dark had ever seen from him. "I thought you said that you don't hurt creatures that aren't as strong as you! Were you just lying about that?"

"_You don't understand! Meph -_"

"No! I don't want to hear it! I don't want to hear _any_thing from you right now!" Mephiles had all his fur and quills on end, and a faint aura of purple was starting to come to view. There was no doubt about it… Mephiles was ticked off beyond anything.

"_At least hear my side of it!_" Dark wanted to be sure there wasn't a misunderstanding. He planted a hand on Shadow's wrist to push the hedgehog's hand away, but Shadow didn't let it move. "_I'm serious! I didn't even know!_"

"How could you not know that you were hurting a Chao!" Mephiles glared. "I know you have anger issues and all, but there is _nothing_ that can justify that!"

"_It wasn't my fault! It-_"

"Of course! It's _never _your fault, is it, Dark?" Mephiles shook his head disapprovingly as he cut across Dark again. "It's never Perfect Little Dark's fault, because there's never anything wrong with you! Because if you do something bad, it's not your fault because you don't know what happened, so it never happened to you… it doesn't exist as far as you're concerned!" His tone was laced with so much sarcasm that it was nearly impossible to not know if it was.

Dark raised his eyebrows at being addressed as "Perfect Little Dark", finding it to be a very unfitting nickname and then continued to plead his case. "_I'm serious! I thought I was fighting Iblis!_"

There was a brief silence before Mephiles shook his head.

"Dark, you were here the whole time. Iblis wasn't here…" He sounded like he was half convinced that it was possible, but the fact that his Chao was hurt was obscuring his judgment. "He can't have been, or we'd have known…"

"_I know that! I… Urgh! I was in my head! Just like you do all those other times!_" Dark was having to work very hard at keeping his frustration from hitting over the top, knowing that he'd simply dig himself deeper if he let himself go off the wall like that.

"Well, that sounds like a convenient excuse…" Shadow glared at him, folding his arms and speaking in as level tone.

Dark shot his attention back to Shadow for a moment and returned the glare, baring his teeth at him.

"_Oh, would you just let me go? I don't even like _you…"

"Likewise. I _told_ him that it was a bad idea helping you from the start. That was enough proof right now, I think…"

"_Had I known that I had that poor Chao like that, I would have stopped immediately._" Dark growled back at him. "_I'm not some beastly little monster that hurts something that innocent._"

"You've hurt Meph, that's enough proof for me…"

"_Would someone just _listen _to me!_" Dark was growing impatient real fast. "_All of you have a pair of ears apiece! All you have to do is just use them!_"

"Why should I?" Mephiles snapped. "You never listen to me anyway!"

"_Of course I do! I hear everything you say!_"

"Oh, I'm sorry; I meant that you don't care!"

"… _Well, _s-some_times…_" Dark knew that Mephiles had a point. He often didn't care what the hedgehog had to say unless it was something important to Dark. When he realized that, he was speechless yet again.

His eyes darted around the room, flickering from Mephiles to Shadow to the bat, who seemed to have nothing to say at the moment, to the poor Chao, her brother and her friend. Then back to the Chao, who's green eyes were half closed as she twisted her fingers around handfuls of the white fur. Her brother was stomping his little feet, the other Chao joining him and both taking turns hissing and sticking their tongues out, saying: "Bahhh!"

He looked back up at Mephiles.

"… _She's not hurt, is she?_" Dark really was concerned for the Chao. He was worried if he had caused lasting damage to her, knowing that a Chao's growth and development was based solely on the way they were treated.

"I don't know, I can't be sure right now. But you better hope for your own sake that she's not going to be damaged by this!" Mephiles continued to pet Krystal to comfort her, the Chao nuzzling against him and beginning to purr softly, hiding her face from Dark, perhaps afraid that he was going to attack her again.

"… _Can you let me go right now? You're making it a little tough to breathe…_" Dark directed his attention back to Shadow.

"Why? You were doing the same to her…"

"_Not purposely!_" Dark barked. "_I told you already! I didn't know! I thought I was still fighting Iblis!_"

"Yeah, right…" Shadow rolled his eyes. "I still say that's a convenient lie…"

"_Y'know… I _could_ just throw you off right now…_" Dark growled. "_I could just send you right through that wall behind you... b__ut the fact that I'm trying to prove my point and innocence here is what's stopping me…_"

"Well, do it then!"

"_No. Doing so would only further misdirect your suspicions…_" Dark reached a hand back up to Shadow's arm again, and pushed it away more forcibly, this time far enough to slip out of the hold he was under. "_You seem to forget that I am capable of the same physical strengths as you, I just find it unnecessary._"

"Proof it."

"_Are you _trying _to goad me?_" Dark hissed, baring his teeth. "_I've been trying to be on my best behavior for the sake of everyone, and you're just pushing it!_"

"Some behavior that is, attacking a poor Chao…"

"_I didn't mean to!_" Dark raised his voice even more. "_Would someone just listen to me, and we can assess what really happened!_"

Dark was now digging his claws into the carpet, curling his hands slowly as he took hardly visible deep breaths through his nose to keep himself from losing his cool. If anyone was paying attention, they'd see that Dark was unintentionally displaying signs of a submissive defense, keeping himself crouched down, keeping his eyes on Shadow and Mephiles, letting his fur stand, and folding his ears back.

He darted his eyes to the side again and saw the purple Emerald on the floor, having been knocked off the table where the rest were being kept and monitored until Iblis' next move.

Not taking much other time to think about his plan, he kicked off the wall with his foot and dove for the Emerald, deciding that a good Chaos Control with it would take him somewhere he could go to think and calm down before his nerves were tried so much that he'd end up doing something really stupid.

Obviously, this was not communicated verbally, and this still seemed bad on Dark's part.

Mephiles, being the closest, handed Krystal to Rouge quickly, and jumped after Dark, who had his hands around the Emerald. Mephiles caught him by the arm just as the words were uttered and the two of them disappeared in an odd flash of purples and reds.

"Mephiles?" Shadow was staring at where the two had been. "Where… Dark? What just… d-did Dark just take a Chaos Emerald?"

"I think so…"

"That… urgh! I _knew _we shouldn't have trusted him! And wherever he went, he's got Meph too!"

"Calm down, Shadow… we don't know if it was bad or not. Maybe he had a reason…"

"I'd rather expect the worse and have to apologize later, than to expect nothing and find out I was duped…" Shadow folded his arms. "Dark's just digging himself deeper, and if he keeps this up, that hole will be too big to get out of… he doing this to himself..."

* * *

Dark and Mephiles hit the dirt, having been teleported a couple feet above it. While Dark was still dazed, Mephiles shook his head quickly to clear it and snatched the Emerald from his doppelganger's clawed hands.

"Dark, what were you even thinking!" Mephiles scolded him. "You realize that you just proved to us that you're still crazy?"

"… _I… I was just trying to get away…_" Dark half whispered, tilting his head back a little. "_… I… Uh, I figured that if we all had a moment to c-cool off that we could solve it better…_"

"Well, taking an Emerald without warning was just going to make you look bad…" Mephiles had his arms folded. He looked around and saw that they had warped to the field just outside of Westopolis, so he knew that they weren't too far from home. He glanced down at Dark and frowned; as something seemed… off. "Dark? Are you okay?"

To his surprise, the shade squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head very slowly.

"… _I th-think I'm h-having a reaction t-to that Emerald…_" Mephiles forgot about being mad at him, knowing that reactions to Emeralds were not to be taken lightly. Dark was shaking, or rather, the muscles under his skin were twitching like he was having muscle spasms of some kind. Like an uncontrollable seizure that he as very much aware of.

"Oh, dear… that's not good…" Mephiles half whispered. "Can you stand?"

"_W-with all th-this twitching? Yeah, s-sure… of c-course…_" Dark stuttered in a still sarcastic tone, opening his eyes up just to narrow them.

"Look… I didn't make you grab that Emerald…" Mephiles shot back at him.

"_With all th-that ignoring me and all… y-yeah you did…_"

"I didn't take your hand and wrap it around it." Mephiles growled at him. "And I didn't shove you into it either. It was all you…"

"_Wh-whatever… help me up…_"

"I'm half tempted to decline after the way you're still treating me…"

"_Darn it all! I'm having an Emerald reaction!_" Dark shouted while he shifted his arm back a little to try to prop himself up. "_I don't get it! I should be immune! I have too strong of an Aura for that! The red one doesn't affect me at all!_"

"Weird… the red one does to me… and that's your Aura color…" Mephiles muttered, scratching his head. "And the one that's my Aura color seems to affect you…"

"_F-f-fascinating conclusion… but a b-better question is what to d-do about this…_" Dark sounded like he didn't really think that was a fascinating conclusion at all.

"I have half a mind to just take the Emerald and walk home and leave you here…" Mephiles folded his arms again. "I need to get back to Krystal and tend to her before that causes any problems."

"_D-don't leave me here! What if Iblis finds me?_"

"You didn't seem to worry about that when you were going to run off a few minutes ago."

"_I j-just wanted to be alone for a moment…_" Dark explained. "_I was on the v-verge of lashing out, and I d-didn't want to attack anything else… I didn't mean to attack… Krystal, was her name? The girl Chao th-that takes after you… _"

"You flat out jumped at her and slammed her into the ground! You just went wild!"

"_I th-thought I was fighting Iblis._" Dark explained a bit more desperately, starting to lose his patience at not being listened to. "_I had returned to my mind unintentionally, and he was waiting there f-for me._" Dark was starting to lose his stutter. "_He was g-goading me and trying to psyche me out, so I jumped at him. That was before he forced me back to consciousness, and that's when I realized I had her…_"

"If that's true, then why didn't you let her go as soon as you saw her?"

"_I was shocked. I wasn't even fully awake for me to realize she was really there… It was Shadow's Spin Dash that snapped me out of it. _" Dark tried to push himself off the ground, but found that his legs couldn't hold his weight, much to his unease. On top of that, there was a familiar disgusting feeling in the pit of his stomach that seemed to get worse the higher up he tried to lift himself off the ground. "_Urgh… I feel sick…_"

"What's wrong?"

"_I dunno… I just feel like vomiting…_" Dark lifted his eyes off the ground for moment to stare at Mephiles before swallowing and shifting them back down.

"Maybe the purple Emerald makes you ill…" Mephiles offered as a solution.

"_Whatever… just keep that one away from me for now…_" Dark half ordered, half pleaded. One hand was bracing the ground while the other was held against his stomach, and Dark was showing signs of someone ready to hurl up whatever was in their belly. He was shaking, his muzzle was a sick shade of pale tan, his breathing was uneven and he was sweating from head to toe.

"Dang, and Shadow's probably going to want to beat the snot out of you for running off with an Emerald and me, so this is just a bad day for you…"

"_I was going… to bring it back… anyway…_" Dark said slowly, clenching his teeth out of annoyance and as an attempt to counter his ill feeling. "_You can't honestly think… that I was going to disappear with it… with _him _on the loose… that's a stupid move…_"

"As stupid as what you tried to do anyway…" Mephiles countered. "The point is, you tried to run off by yourself with an Emerald. And by the looks of it, it's one that seems to clash badly with you, so if Iblis had found you, you would have been toast… not literally, obviously, since you're fire resistant."

Dark inhaled deeply, taking a moment to close his eyes and hold his breath before exhaling again slowly in another attempt to settle his stomach. After a battle of his own will against instinct, he gulped and nodded, having won and made it to his feet shakily, having to lean against the tree while he waited for the world to stop crawling around him, closing his eyes to block the sight, but still feeling a rocking sensation that the world was doing that only he seemed to feel at the moment.

"_I don't get it… I've never had a reaction to an Emerald before…_"

"Have you ever really touched the purple one before?"

"… _Er… N-no…_" Dark opened an eye to stare at Mephiles as his pale muzzle darkened a shade of red as he realized his mistake. "_… Never had a reason to…_"

"In reality, you only touched the red one and the aqua one. By the way…" Mephiles folded his arms again. "I didn't really like you taking me over for that moment…"

"_Does it really matter right now? It was for a good reason, and if I hadn't…_" Dark narrowed his open eye. "_You would have gone mad from the delusions of the Emerald…_"

"Coulda warned me first. Do you have any idea how painful it is to switch mind dominancy?" Mephiles half bared his teeth. "Very. It hurts a lot."

"_I think it's a bit too late to be trying to discuss this with me…_" Dark growled. "_Besides… that which does not kill you, makes you stronger… you should be thanking me in that sense…_"

"And I suppose the two times I've 'died' and the several times of having my heart stop were not results of something you did to me?"

"_You act like I try to kill you every time we see each other…_"

"Not nearly that extreme… but you seem to forget how much you've caused me an injury…" The hedgehog shook his head. "Because of that fight when you split from me, I was hurt so badly that I was coughing blood. You've broken a couple of my bones, I've gotten a concussion from you, there are still a few of my quills stuck in this tree…" Mephiles pointed to the tree Dark was leaning against, where they could see on a lower level that a few stiff, blue, crystal tipped quills were embedded in the trunk where the tree seemed to also be trying to recover from a few deep scratches left from a set of crystal claws digging into the sides to have a better grip. "And nearly every time we're together… I get hurt somehow." Mephiles looked up and frowned in concern this time. "Are you sure that you're okay, Dark? Your teeth are chattering…"

Dark shifted his eyes to him, clenched his jaw shut, glared and forced out an: "_… I'm f-fine…_"

"No, you're not…" Mephiles said calmly, lifting his ears a little. "I know you… you don't want to look weak in front of me… so you're just trying to get me to back off, but… D-dark?"

Dark had closed his eyes for a moment and started to lean to the side a little before snorting and snapping his eyes open and shaking his head quickly, a little startled.

Mephiles eyed him anxiously before attempting to finish his explanation before he was cut short when Dark fell back against the tree and slid to sit on the ground in a faint.

Mephiles yelped in surprise and hurried over to check on him. He must have fainted because of the Emerald, and was now out cold; because Mephiles' proddings, finger snapping, name calling and even face smacking wasn't getting a response from him at all.

Knowing that Shadow and Rouge had probably gone looking for them, Mephiles decided that he would have to bring Dark back home by himself, since Dark seemed in no fit state to walk at the moment, and Mephiles didn't dare try to see if he could Chaos Control, and if he could… the energy would hurt Dark even more because Dark seemed to be "allergic" to purple Chaos Energy… or some form of it, anyway, since he never had a problem with Mephiles'.

After some bit of situating, Mephiles managed to pull Dark on his back, but was now faced with the problem of where to carry the Emerald. He tried to put it in his quills, like what Shadow does sometimes, but it turned out to be too close to Dark, causing him to shift uncomfortably, which made it difficult to hold his hands together at the wrists to avoid letting him slip. Mephiles hands were full with trying to keep Dark from falling off, and the only other way he could see was to hold it in his mouth.

Well, there seemed no other choice.

Quite a sight that must have been: A crystal covered hedgehog toting a twin on his back with a purple gem in his mouth.

But because the sun was starting to set, the air was chilling a little, which prompted people to head indoors, so the streets were near empty.

This made Mephiles' fur stand. He didn't like the idea of being so vulnerable and nearly alone. He's practically a perfect target for Iblis right now! Especially with Dark unable to stay awake right now…

Mephiles shivered with the cold air as did Dark and the hedgehog quickened his pace, making sure to stay under street lamps so that the way was well lit and he could see nearly everything as his ears twitched every which way and his nose sniffed in the air for anything that shouldn't be there.

He froze for a moment and shifted his eyes to an area that was in a park. He couldn't see anything really, but he didn't trust that. He stepped away from his intended path and crossed the street where there was more light.

Dark was pretty much a dead weight. Even holding onto him was a problem because even unconscious, he didn't have the instinct to cling onto something, so Mephiles had to pause every ten steps or so to resituate him so he didn't fall.

_Never did I once think that I would have to do this for him… _He thought to himself, unable to speak aloud because of the Emerald, and because he had no one to speak to. _I'm sure if we didn't have Iblis to worry about, he would have just left me there if it was me who fainted…_

Glancing at a street sign, Mephiles saw that he was at least several blocks from the house now. Almost in the clear, but he still had to be cautious.

After about ten minutes, he was in the front yard and stepped up on the cement step in front of the door, where he rung the doorbell.

"Shadow was looking for you two!" Was his first greeting from Rouge. "What happened?"

Mephiles, unable to speak with the Emerald in his mouth at the moment, spat it out where it hit the carpet and began to explain about how Dark had a reaction to the Emerald and had fainted a quarter of an hour ago.

"I think that he's allergic to it or something…" He continued. "It made him feel sick, and I was almost sure that he was going to throw up on the grass. I think he needs to rest right now…"

"Did he tell you why he took the Emerald in the first place?"

"Only that he wanted to take a moment to calm down. Shadow and I were pushing him a bit, and he didn't want to lash out…" Mephiles frowned a little. "I still don't think that was a good reason, but Dark's brain works completely different than a normal brain. What he thinks works just doesn't work at all. Sad, really… he's just wasted brilliance… and he never had a say in that… Mind if he takes the couch for a moment?"

"Where else would he be?"

"I dunno… I was just asking…" Mephiles shrugged as he set Dark on the couch. "How's Krystal?" He had looked up and saw that the Chao had fallen asleep nuzzled against Rouge in her arms. "She's not hurt, is she?"

"Can't be too sure, but I'm sure that a little extra attention would help…"

"Not a problem…" Mephiles nodded and reached out for her, taking her out of Rouge's arms and cradling her with his free arm as he press a hand to Dark's forehead to test for another fever. "He doesn't seem to be hot, so he can't be sick temperature wise, I think… sure is pale, though…" He noted. "I hope Shadow isn't too mad… I don't think Dark would even know what's going on if Shadow got to him…"

"I'll let him know that you're back…" Rouge nodded as she relayed that on the communicator. Almost instantly, Shadow Chaos Controlled back into the living room, panting and looking quite peeved… but that might be putting it lightly.

"Where is he? He can't think that he can-"

"Before you go any further with those thoughts, Shadow…" Mephiles said quickly. "Dark got sick, and we probably should leave him alone until he wakes up again."

"Well, that's convenient for him, too!" Shadow snapped sarcastically. "Can't I just hit him in the head with something a few times and tell him that it's probably a migraine if he wakes up with a splitting headache? First, he attacked a Chao. Then he tried to run off with an Emerald, and moreover, he warped with you. That's kidnapping right there!"

"Okay, I _chose_ to grab his arm…" Mephiles tried to reason with him. "And hitting him isn't going to fix anything. It might make things worse!"

"How?"

"Did you forget that he can easily throw one of us through the wall?"

"He says he can… but I have yet to really see it."

"Are you trying to pick a fight with him?"

"Of course not! I just don't like him or what he does."

"I'm aware of that Shadow…" Mephiles nodded slowly before frowning slightly. "Can you please not yell so much? Krystal's asleep, and I don't want to wake her."

"Is she okay?"

"I think she was just startled badly…" Mephiles looked up. "Rouge, you didn't see anything wrong with her, did you?"

"Other than the fact that she didn't like it when you were warped out of here… no…"

"I hope that's a good sign then… She just wants me to be around…" Mephiles shifted his eyes back to Shadow and inhaled sharply. "What are you doing?"

Shadow was holding heavy looking book above Dark's head, no doubt he was going to hit him anyway.

"Just once… It's all I'm asking…" Shadow said innocently. "It's not like it's going to kill him, and you know as well as I he really deserves it, if not more…"

"Just put the book down…"

"How about when he wakes up then?"

"No." Mephiles frowned, shaking his head.

"Well, somebody has to do something about his jerkish attitude…" Shadow was waving the book lightly, obviously not convinced otherwise.

"Y'know, you wanting to hit him while he's not even conscious sounds pretty jerkish to me too…"

"He could be faking being knocked out…"

"He must be really good at it then, since I couldn't get a reaction out of him at all. He might as well have been faking that sick reaction he was having as well…"

"Why are you so intent on helping him out?"

"Why are you so intent on not letting me?" Mephiles countered.

"Because I just don't like him. He's stubborn, arrogant, conceited, and overall has a nasty temper."

"You do too, sometimes."

"I am _not _as bad as him!"

Rather than just continue filling you in on this argument, let's just say that it nearly snowballed and Rouge suggested that they drop it before it got out of hand.

With Dark having the couch, Mephiles had nowhere to sleep, so he was granted access to his alternate sleeping space on the opposite side of Rouge's floor that Shadow did not sleep.

"When are we going to get more rooms?" Shadow said, laying his stuff down. "Right now, it's four people and three Chaos, with one bedroom with one bed and a couch in the living room with a whole lotta floor between all that. Can't we, like… build an add on, or convert that garage we never really need because neither of us have or need a car?"

"That costs money…" Rouge said. "And we would need to make sure it was up to standard building regulations, and we would need the right building materials, and the city has to clear it, and it's costs would detract from both of our payrolls right now…"

"You'd think that being a hero or something that the city would allow you to make a simple house modification…" Shadow grumbled.

"When I bought this place, I didn't think that I'd end up sharing it… So I only bought it because it had what I needed…"

"I don't really mind sleeping on the floor…" Mephiles said, watching Sharpe and Kai find their way over to his area and crawl onto the pillow that Krystal was dozing on and curling up next to her. "Hmm… guess that everyone's staying here tonight…"

There was a crashing sound in the kitchen, which, due to his instincts, made Mephiles yell in fright, puff his quills and attempt to crawl under the small space between the floor and Rouge's bed, only getting his head and arms under before taking a moment to realize he was stuck.

"Uh… guys? A little help?"

"I'm on it…" Shadow was on Mephiles' side of the floor now and had grabbed his foot to try to pull him out before seeing a source of the problem. "Uh, Meph?"

"Yeah?"

"Try smoothing your quills so it's not anchoring you there…"

"They're stuck… can't you just lift the bed?" Mephiles' tail went limp.

"I can't just go lifting up beds every time you get stuck!"

"I wouldn't be stuck if that sound hadn't happened… which reminds me…" Mephiles' tail then stuck up and curved a little as if to imitate a question mark. "What was that anyway? Sounded like a glass hitting the floor…"

"No doubt it's Dark…" Shadow growled.

"Rouge, don't go in there until I'm out from under here…"

"Why not?"

"Because Shadow and I are the boys here, and I saw on TV that when a loud sound in the kitchen happens, the boys go to check it out so that the girl doesn't get hurt…"

"Meph…" Shadow said. "That's on TV. Nothing on TV ever really happens like that…"

"Still… I kinda wanted to do it like that…"

"Where you waiting for something like this to happen?"

"Not really and… Hey! Get me out from under here! There's dust, and it's making my nose itch!" To emphasize that, the crystal hedgehog sneezed, tail straightening and then hanging limp again as he sniffled. "(Sniff) Nebberbide…"

"Try holding your breath after breathing in so that you're a little smaller so I can pull you out…"

Rouge rolled her eyes at the pair trying to solve this little problem, having momentarily forgotten yet again the problem that caused the now problem to begin with.

Suspicions were correct. Dark _was _in the kitchen. He _had _dropped a glass.

But the odd thing was… he didn't even seem awake while he was doing what he was doing, which appeared to be removing the plates and bowls out of the cupboard and stacking them in a symmetrical pyramid on the counter, after which he shuffled through the silverware drawer and placed the spoons on each step of the pyramid, mumbling under his breath as his half open eyes blinked every few seconds or so.

"I kinda don't believe this…" The bat started to say to herself. "And yet, I can't say that there wasn't a possibility, since Mephiles might be narcoleptic."

"Say what, Rouge?" Shadow said after appearing in the doorway next to her, Mephiles dusting off his fur.

"It looks like Dark's a somnambulist…"

"Dark's a zombie? Wait, _what?_" Mephiles looked very confused, having not heard the word annunciated clearly due to his lack of full focus on it.

"Somnambulist. He sleepwalks…"

"You could have just said that first…"

"And, I think that he also has somniloquy."

"Which is… sleep… what?" Mephiles figured that the first syllable must have meant sleep, since they were dealing with that as of the moment.

"Sleep talking…"

"Why can't you just use the easier term? I didn't know that…"

"So… he's asleep right now?" Shadow mused, grinning a little at the display of dimwittedness Dark was showing right now, highly amused by that. "Man, I wish we had a camcorder…"

"Oh, we could show him this if he thought we were lying about him being a 'Zomb-nambulist"…" Mephiles was both oblivious to Shadow's intention and his mispronunciation of the word yet again. "I don't think he could deny it if we had solid proof…"

"Or I could use it to laugh myself to sleep at night… that would nice…"

"That's kinda mean, Shadow. I mean… he's not even awake…" Mephiles raised an eyebrow. "Soooo… do we wake him up?"

"Of course not!" Rouge shook her head.

"Why not?"

"Yeah, I wanna tell him how stupid he looks right now…" Shadow said disappointedly.

"Shadow… no…" The bat shook her head. "Anyway… it's dangerous to wake up a sleepwalker if they're having an episode."

"How can it be dangerous… he's asleep. What's the worse he can do to me?"

"Did you consider that being shaken awake and finding yourself not where you fell asleep at and seeing that you've been doing something you don't remember, and that your brain has yet to transition between a dream state and reality… that maybe you might end up freaking out and hitting whatever it is that's shaking you? And remember that Dark has claws just like Mephiles'…"

"How about if I just whack him in the head, then?"

"No!"

"This is weird… how come I've never seen him do that before?" Mephiles said, watching Dark now set the colored plastic cups in an alternating pattern across the counter.

"Where you ever around him after he was asleep?"

"Yeah…"

Dark was now stacking them on top of each other after running out of counter space.

"How long?"

"I dunno… maybe at least ten minutes… he usually woke up shortly after…"

"Then he didn't have enough time to have his brain enter such a state…" Rouge explained her theory. "He seems to generally be a light sleeper, and this being a case where he had fainted and remained such for a while, he's acting subconsciously now…"

"Think he can hear us right now?"

"Probably… it's just that he won't really recognize us as he would normally…"

"Soooo… he might think I'm a rabbit or something?"

"What is it with you and rabbits?" Shadow said, tearing his eyes away from Dark's odd display of action for a moment.

"What?"

"You have an… oh, never mind… What are you doing?"

Mephiles had inched over to where Dark was as if to get a better look at what he was doing. He watched him for a short while before trying to see if he could guide Dark back to the couch to lie down without waking him up and upsetting him.

"That's a pretty neat looking pyramid you're making there…" Mephiles was using a soft tone, hoping to work his voice into Dark's consciousness carefully so that he wasn't startling him. Dark grunted quietly, but didn't seem to acknowledge Mephiles at all. Mephiles tried again. "Dark… why don't you go back to the couch? I'm sure that you're probably tired…"

Dark looked at him with half open eyes and stared a good solid ten seconds before returning to what he was doing. One wrong and accidental hit with the hand and the pyramid of cups tumbled down, earning a low growl from the shadow. Picking them up, he simply put them back in the cupboard then collected the utensils he used and put them back in the drawers, then tapped his fingers on the counter as if contemplating what would be worth doing next.

"I don't think he heard me that well..." Mephiles said quietly.

Dark's ear twitched before looking in Mephiles' general direction, shifting his eyes around with no real reason to it.

* * *

It end here. ^^;


	5. Memories Deleted Scene 3

This was an idea for a side story that never really fleshed out. It features an interaction between Thizon and Dark, and Dark is basically being evaluated. This was really meant to work on Thizon more, and Dark just makes it interesting for us. ^^

The placement is unknown, but could have taken place during the end of Memories.

This is also incomplete, as I never turned it into a story. ^^;

Again, Dark's POV. And he's being a bit of an $$ on purpose XD

* * *

Light above me turns on. Raise my hand up to shield my eyes with a hiss under my breath.

I really don't like light very well. It doesn't help that it's florescent... it just makes it worse.

Bowing my head slightly to keep the light out of my eyes, I drum my fingers against the wood armrest, watching my claws leave little scratches in the finish. Not like I really care...

A door closes off to my side and I steal a glance towards it out of the corner of my eye before blinking and fixing my gaze back to the floor as I relaxed a bit in the chair and crossed my legs.

"Dark the Demon?"

"_Dark the _Shade." I corrected swiftly before taking a look at the guy. "_Call me 'Dark'... Everyone else does. Not that I care, but don't even try to give me a nickname either..._"

The guy was a porcupine, so he carried some similarities of your garden variety hedgehog. The small ones. He was brown, with a darkening at his quill tips, which I could tell he kept them short, perhaps because of his profession. Darker little spots that mimicked freckles on a Human decorated his cheeks, which were the same color as the rest of his fur... an unusual trait for a Mobian like him. Square framed glasses rested on the edge of his nose before he pushed them back up, the lenses making his dark blue eyes seem bigger. He was putting his usual lab coat on the rack by the door, I guess finding it not suitable for this situation. He didn't seem like a tough guy though, judging from the sweater vest and matching sneakers he had on, and satchel that gave the illusion of a very large purse that hung off his shoulder. Judging from the way he was eying me, he must have been wishing he was somewhere else right now.

"Okay, Dark. Normally, someone else fills this role around here... But since Mephiles has pretty much made nearly everyone scared to be left with him, and I'm the only one that he doesn't have as much as a problem with... Everyone just told me to do this..." He explained with a sigh at the end of that sentence. "I'm not really certified, but they told me that I have to just take notes and listen. I've heard some interesting things about you from Mephiles..."

"_Oh, really? How so?_" I said in a mock innocent voice, even going as far as to bat my eyelashes and giving a small smirk.

He just stared, rolled his eyes, and I could swear I heard a mutterance of something about his wage never seemed to cover the stuff he had to do. I gave a laugh. I could tell that he was uneasy, and I was going to make this seem impossible for him.

"_Oh, wait! Before we get started!_" I clapped my hands with a chuckle. "_Why don't you tell me _your _name, since you already know mine?_"

"Th-thizon..."

"_Is that your first or last name?_" I grinned, knowing full well that my longer than normal canines were gonna be seen anyway. "_Cuz if that's your first name, then that'd be pretty cool._"

"Eric is my first..."

"_Eric? Well, that's pretty plain sounding..._" I folded my arms with a bit of a pout, bringing my legs up so that I was sitting cross-legged on the chair. "_I mean, it's not even short for anything, is it? I suppose I could shorten it even more by calling you 'Rick' or something. Can I call you that?_"

"No." He said flatly. "Everyone calls me Thizon."

"_Oooh... Last name terms, eh? Well, I like my first name better._" I was simply trying to get in his head a bit. I could do it sooner, but there's no fun in that, is there? "_Okay, _Thiiiiiizon. _Whatcha doing here?_" I drug out his name on purpose.

He blinked again and sighed before making his way to the desk and picking up some paper on a clipboard and a pencil then sat down in the chair.

"For reasons beyond my control." He said flatly. "I was warned that you like trying to get in someone's mind, and I've heard you're very good at that. Any reason why you worked on that skill?"

"_Has our session started?_"

"As soon as I walked in the door." He scribbled something down on the paper. "But tell me why?"

"_Why is that important?_"

"So I can't better understand what I'm working with here..." He looked up. "So, Mephiles and his friends have informed me that you are an unstable individual as a result of circumstances beyond your control. Do you know what that means?"

"_That Mephy and his friends need to shut up and keep their noses out of my business?_" I said with a hint of rhythm to my voice.

"No. It means-"

"_I know what it means. I'm just messing with you..._" I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. "_Look... I really don't need to be here. I told them that it wasn't important, so why don't you just let me leave early and say that this was a successful session?_"

"That'd be lying and I could be fired for that..."

"_But you aren't even a psychotherapist. Mephy said that you were a physician and also practice in some lab work, which to me means you're just a scientist, and quite frankly... those are just about my least favorite kinds of people..._" I said smoothly. "_Either way, because this isn't really your real job, the worst they should do is simply not make you do this again._"

"You don't know my boss..."

"_So I guess that means you aren't in charge here._" I smirked again. Perfect, another thing I can pick at. "_So, Thiz. Just how low are you on the corporate pyramid? You seem to cover a lot of subjects, so maybe you might be near the middle. Which means you not only have a boss, but you _must _have inferiors too, amirite?_"

He blinked and took of his glasses for a moment, wiping them on the sweater vest as if stalling. I made my smirk bigger.

"We call them Interns here." He stated, putting his glasses back on as he scribbled on the paper again.

"_Know what I just realized?_"

"Hmm?"

"_That I've been the one asking questions here._" I giggled. "_I guess that means that you aren't doing a good job on this..._"

"Actually... it's making it a little easier to understand you..." He laughed back, catching me by surprise. "I can see that you're trying establish a sense of dominance over me, which shows me that you are afraid of being inferior to even a complete stranger."

The grin on my face faded quickly. He found that out just by listening to my questions? Either I was just careless, or he's really good at this. Clearing my throat, I gave him my trademark glare that I've been told that could probably stop traffic.

"Oh, now why the sudden change in attitude?" He smiled smugly, reclining a bit by getting his feet up on the desk. "Just a minute ago, you were laughing at the end of nearly everything you said."

"_You tricked me._"

"No, I didn't. You fell right into that one yourself."

I clenched my teeth and tightened my hand on the armrest of the chair, feeling it splinter a little from the pressure I was forcing into it. He was watching me carefully and continued speaking.

"I was also told that you have quite a temper, too. You also have a short fuse, and self destructive tendencies."

"_Not on purpose._" I forced through my teeth. "_Were you also told that I'm unaware of it a majority of the time?_"

"Do you watch television?"

"_What?_" I'll admit that I was caught of guard by that question.

"Any shows? What do you do to entertain yourself?"

I blinked and shook my head and folded my arms.

"_What does that have to do with anything?_"

"Just a question..." The porcupine rummaged through his satchel and pulled out a water bottle and a small packet, which he tore open and poured whatever was in it in the water, turning it blue, which totally bewildered me as he capped the bottle, shook it a bit and took a drink.

"_What's that?_"

"Kool-Aid."

"_Which is..?_" I curse my stupidity sometimes when it comes to those everyday things people like _you _use. You should remember where I was for a decade. I have to admit to nearly everything new I see, which happens more than you think. Take cars for example. The other day, if Mephy hadn't acted fast... well, he said I might have been flattened. Apparently, the larger street is not meant for walking. But a better question is why is there thousands of pounds of metal, rubber and glass on wheels speeding around in a populated area? With the majority of the ones controlling them happening to be Humans?

"Behind on the times, are you?" He laughed a bit, only embarrassing me further. "It's something we put in water to flavor it. It's popular among kids, and pretty dang cheap to buy, since a dollar can get you enough to make four gallons."

"_And... it's blue._" I stated, at least showing that I understood _that_.

"It's any color you want it to be, really, just as long as you buy the right one."

Well, _now_ I feel dumb.

"_Can we do something about this light?_" I changed the subject, bringing my hand up to shield them again to show that I disliked it. "_If it had any more watts, I might actually get a sunburn._"

"Not a big fan of light, are you, _Dark?_"

Oh, he must think he's pretty clever. Give me a break.

"_I'm a shadow. I exist _because_ there's light... but it's just not my element._"

"It's your brother's, isn't it?"

I froze. _Great_, now _he_ knows about Brother, too. Who the heck told him?

"_I'd hardly call him family, if that's what you were implying..._" I said levelly, narrowing my eyes. "_I may address him as 'Brother', but only because it's out of habit._"

"I heard that he's like the opposite of you."

"_Yes and no._"

"How so?"

"_He looks kinda like me, and... WHY AM I TELLING _YOU?" I said loudly, trying to make it very clear that I wasn't interested in venturing into that subject. "_I just met you, so what makes you think you should know any better than Mephy and his friends?_"

"It's my job..." He said, taking a few more notes. "I'm paid to find out what's wrong with people."

"_There is _nothing_ wrong with me..._"

* * *

And... it ends here.

I kinda thought the Kool-Aid bit was pretty funny... Dark's lack of modern knowledge makes me laugh. ^^


	6. Memories Original Ending

I decided to finally add the original ending I had started for Teaching Darkness: Memories, but it was eventually omitted, as I ended up writing away from the direction. Looking back, this thing was kinda cheesy compared to what ended up... ^^;

* * *

**CRACK!**

There was a dead silence. Mephiles' eyes were as wide a they could ever get, a blank expression carried in them as if his very essence that made him a living, breathing being had been ripped from him.

Iblis held him up by the throat, laughing at Mephiles' pain as the injured hedgehog could do nothing to struggle. Mephiles arms hung limply at his sides as tears began to pool up in his empty eyes, overfilling and sliding down his face as he emotionless face began to twitch.

"_… So the great Mephiles the Hedgehog can't even do more than shed tears right now..?_" Iblis cackled. "_… I must say, I'm very much disappointed… my brother made it seem like you really were a challenge…_"

When Mephiles' mind began to grasp a hold of reality, he was punched with the realization that there was an agonizing pain in the upper part of his back. It seemed to stop just at the mid point… In fact… he couldn't feel anything from there on down… he couldn't even kick his feet…

Mephiles blinked and gasped harshly when he realized what that meant.

Iblis had broken his back!

Dark clenched his hands tightly, narrowing his eyes as he read off Mephiles' thoughts that sparked so unpredictably through his mind.

_He broke my back!_

I can't move anything from the waist down!

Oh God! It hurts so badly!

What are we going to do! I can't win like this! I'm dead! I failed everyone! It's over!

Ahh! It hurts! It hurts!

Dark could hear every word of it.

In an unexplainable way, this pained Dark. Mephiles was injured… and not because of him! Dark was supposed to be the tormentor of Mephiles! Not his own brother!

"_You… insignificant spark!_" Dark shouted, once again feeling his hatred of his brother stir up and get ready to set of an explosion of rage that Dark had never let get that far before. "_You have meddled with matters that are not to be messed with!_"

Iblis lifted his eyes from Mephiles and smirked.

"_… And what are you going to do about it..?_" He laughed. "_… You've lost, brother… I've taken and broken your prize…_"

"_You're also a coward!_" Dark's Aura was beginning to come to view, the red Chaos flames flickering off his body. "_How can you expect to get a thrill from a fight if you don't let your opponent have even a speck of chance!_"

"_… Why does that matter to you anyway..? You wanted to kill him anyway… so I just made it easier for you…_"

"_… I refuse to fight something that cannot even hope to fight back!_" Dark's Aura was surrounding him now. "_I would never have broken his back if he still had a chance!_"

"_… Having a heart now, are we, Dark..?_" Iblis grinned, letting his teeth gleam off the light. He shifted his grip on Mephiles, who whimpered. "_… Very well… let's see who can get to him first before he hits the ground…_"

Before Dark, Shadow, or Rouge could respond… Iblis caught Mephiles with his other hand, spun around quickly and flung him into the air.

"_Give me an Emerald! Quick!_" Dark barked at Shadow. "_I have an idea!_"

Shadow, finding it a bit astounding that he was handing Dark an Emerald from the backpack, complied, Dark snatching it from him and holding it out in front of him.

"_CHAOS CONTROL!_"

A flash of red and Dark disappeared from sight as Iblis watched Mephiles start to fall after reaching the highest point he could, Iblis having no intention of actually trying to catch Mephiles at all. Mephiles wanted to curl up into a ball to try to protect himself, but he could not for his back was broken and he was in too much pain to try.

A red light flashed in his peripherals, and he could hear Dark's voice uttering a single curse word as an arm wrapped around his chest and braced him for a Chaos Control just seconds from hitting the ground.

The next thing Mephiles knew, the both of them had reappeared on the grass just feet away from Shadow and Rouge, who wasted no time in getting to them.

"Mephiles! What happened?" Rouge shouted, knowing from the moment they heard the bone breaking sound that it was not good at all.

"… Back… Pain… Broken…" Mephiles managed through clenched teeth, trying hard not to move as Dark tried to set him down to not further his injury. "… Can't move legs… Ah… ah…" Mephiles faded off into whimpering, his eyes rolling up a bit before he squeezed them shut, tears staining the fur on his face.

"_Iblis paralyzed him from the waist down… the pyromaniac…_" Dark frowned, standing up and folding his arms. "_Dear Mephy here can't move enough to stand… and even if he_ could _stand by some miracle… he'd still be in excruciating pain. He's nearly out of his head with it right now…_"

"What are we going to do?" Shadow said anxiously. "It'd take months to heal his back, even with his powers, and that's time we don't have."

"_I have a theory…_" Dark twitched his torn ear, letting his trademark smirk crawl onto his face to announce that he had a plan that might work. "_… Granted… it would take a little bit of time… but it requires the Chaos Emeralds…_"

"What… Go Super?" Shadow raised an eyebrow.

"_Oh, no… not for you…_" Dark shook his head. "_I mean to help Mephiles. I believe that if we can collect enough Rings in the area to correspond with the Emeralds… it might cause a reaction that might not only heal his back, but increase his chances of winning…_"

"I don't think he even has a Super form…"

"_That's not the priority right now!_" Dark snapped. "_What's important now is fixing him!_"

Mephiles could hear some of what they were saying through his pain, getting the gist of it, anyway. It didn't matter to him what they did, as long as they made the pain stop! This was worse than the times he broke his ankle! Much, much worse!

"Rouge, watch after him while Dark and I try to both collect those Rings, and distract Iblis!"

The bat nodded, and turned her attention to Mephiles, who was whimpering like a puppy with it's foot caught in a trap. She touched her hand to his face, making him relax a bit and quiet down somewhat. He opened his eyes slowly, staring up into hers, staring with the glassiest, most pain filled look he had ever given her.

"… Rouge… owww…" He breathed, shifting his eyes slowly to her hand on his face. "… D-don't let… me lose…"

"Don't you _dare_give up then…" She half warned him, trying to keep him focused on staying awake.

"… I've failed… all of you…" He whispered, closing his eyes to not look at her, unable to turn his head without agitating his back. "… I lost…"

"Don't say that! There's still a chance!" Rouge cupped her other hand to his face and leaned closer to keep his attention on her. "Look, Dark and Shadow are going to collect Rings and see if those and the Emeralds can heal you…"

"… It's over… Game over…" Mephiles opened and swiveled his eyes to his left, fixing themselves on something she couldn't see.

Rouge realize that Mephiles was about to fade out into a trip of his mind, into an illusion that was created as an escape from his pain.

"Oh, no… Mephiles! Come back! Whatever you're seeing, it's not there!" She would have shaken him, but that would have been a great risk of furthering the injury of his back. She could only shout his name and plead for him to snap out of it.

More tears streaked down his face as he shuddered and gasped, moaning painfully under his breath: "… Mother… I'm sorry… I tried…"

"Mephiles! It's not there!"

"… Mother…" His eyes drifted shut once more, the word repeating softly as he started to lose his grip of reality. Within minutes, he was delirious from the agony, mumbling incoherently as his fur began to dampen with cold sweat. Rouge was hitting him lightly on the face to try to make him wake up.

…

…

"_I've got twenty two of them… how about you, Shadow?_" Dark shook the black mist ring he was holding his findings on, counting the number by the sounds given.

"Sixteen…"

"_Nearly there… but we more…_" Dark looked up, trying to spot Iblis, who had seemingly disappeared at the moment. "_Crud… I can't see him… that's not a good sign…_"

"Behind you!"

"_Wha-!_" Dark was cut off sharply when a crystal covered hand identical to his and Mephiles' slammed into the back of his head forcefully, causing Dark to drop his Rings and collapse to the ground as the Rings scattered and chimed, spilling to the ground at Shadow's feet.

"_… Did you really think I wouldn't know what you two were up to..?_" Iblis lifted his foot and kicked Dark in the side sharply, causing the shadow demon to grunt in mild pain, but that was all Iblis got. He kicked again. "_… C'mon, now, little brother… I want to hear you cry…_"

"_I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of it…_" Dark snarled as Shadow quickly scooped up the Rings and pulled Dark to his feet. "_And that's not gonna happen…_"

"_… Must you be such a killjoy..? You're so serious around me… yet you seem to have so much fun with your little chew toy…_" Iblis smirked. "_… It makes me a little jealous, since you don't share…_"

"_He's not for you!_" Dark's eyes lit up red as his fur began to stand. "_I saw him first, and I'll decide what happens to him!_"

"_… Go on then… throw a little temper tantrum… see what I do about it..._" Iblis snickered. "_… Remember… the bigger they are… the harder_ you_ fall…_"

Almost immediately, Dark's eyes switched back to normal in a blink, though his fur still stood.

"_When I find out how to bypass this…_"

"_… Oh… I'm scared…_"

"_You will be when I'm through with you!_" Dark charged up a super charged Dark Spike in his hand and flung it as hard as he could, the spear of power hitting the ground and burying itself in, torching the dirt and grass around the hole.

"_… Still have bad aim, I see…_"

"SHUT UP!" Dark clapped his hands together and formed a large orb in his hands, black sparks crackling off of it as it got bigger and bigger, Dark hoisting it above his head with both hands. "_Shadow! Keep collecting those Rings!_"

"You seriously can't fight him as you are right now…"

"_I DON'T CARE!_" Dark snapped. "_You take care of Mephiles while I hold him off! Mephiles is the one that's in dire need of help right now, not me!_"

Shadow snatched a fallen branch from under a nearby tree, sliding his Rings onto it to keep track of them. His and Dark's thirty eight total.

"How many should I find?"

"_Twelve more should do it!_" Dark said before dissolving into his mad laughter, staring fixedly at Iblis. "_You don't know how long I've wait for a chance to do this, brother!_"

With that, he hurled the orb at Iblis, cackling madly as he formed two smaller orbs in each hand as Shadow took off to finish collecting those Rings.

Iblis brought up a shield of fire, allowing for Dark's orb to just be absorbed into it.

"_… You're still not strong enough to match up to me…_" Iblis said with a hint of a yawn to his voice. "_… Compared to me, you're nothing…_"

"_Why don't you prove it then! Huh! HUH!_" Dark lost it and began attacking blindly, throwing and replenishing his orbs at an alarming speed, Iblis not having enough time to block all of them. Dark's Aura flared up again, and this time, what felt like a shockwave followed after its arrival, a visible pulse of energy that swept through the area, Mephiles seizing up in pain briefly as the shockwave passed through him. Shadow heard the Rings rattle, and Rouge trailed her eyes along the ripple in the grass the started from the shadow demon. "_I HAVE _HAD _IT WITH YOU! YOUR METHODS ARE UNORTHADOX, AND YOU HAVE NO CONCEPT OF LETTING THINGS BE WHEN IT'S UNNESSESARY! AND ANOTHER THING! THAT WAS TOO MUCH WHEN YOU KILLED HIS FAMILY!_"

"_… But Darkie… I thought you enjoyed hurting him…_"

"_I do! But not hurting helpless animals! They didn't have a chance! What's the point of it? What!_"

…

…

Shadow scanned the area for Rings, finding it more difficult than he could have ever thought. Some were in trees, and near a rock or two, and one that was laying half buried in dirt.

Then he had an idea.

"Rouge! How many Rings do you have on you!" He called from the tree, plucking it from the branch it was hanging from.

The bat looked up, having nearly given up on waking up Mephiles and grabbed one of the backpacks, shuffling through it quickly.

"About five!"

"Then if we use those, I just need one more!" Shadow scanned his eyes across the area, spotting Dark and Iblis, the former unleashing a barrage of orbs and Spikes as the latter dodged and sidestepped them, taunting and laughing at him.

"_… C'mon, little brother! You can do better!_" Iblis egged him on, Dark's narrowed eyes lighting up red. "_… Go on! Just lose it! I'll only take your power from you!_"

Dark snarled and lunged at Iblis, hands surrounded with blood red energy that flickered like flames, burning at the air around them. The two of them hit the ground as Dark caught him by the throat and pressed his weight into Iblis, giving a wheezy laugh as he twisted his frown into a wicked, toothy grin.

Iblis lifted his hand casually, and touched it to Dark's arm, the hand glowing orange. Dark's eyes widened as the red light faded quickly, as did the energy that was pulsing through him.

Dark withdrew his hand quickly and shook it, trying to get something to work from it. A feeble spark of light jumped from the palm, and a small orb formed itself before blowing itself out in a puff of smoke.

"_Wh-what did you do to me!_" Dark drew back, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried frantically to get something of a more powerful magnitude he was used to, but to his dismay… he couldn't feel the same amount of power he was just experiencing… what he felt dwell deep inside him. "_What happened! My powers! They're-!_"

"_… Not working properly? Hmm… that is a shame…_" Iblis snorted, picking himself up off the ground and took a few steps to tower over Dark, who stared up with a horrified expression as he sat on his knees. "_… Oh, dear Darkie… what are you going to do without them..? You do know how to fight without them, don't you..?_"

"_... N-no…_" Dark whispered softly, tearing his eyes from his brother and tearing at the ground.

"_… What's that..? I couldn't hear you…_"

Dark tensed up, slamming a fist to the ground in anger. How could he have been so stupid? Iblis even gave him a warning! And he just attacked blindly without realizing that Iblis was just going to absorb his power… and he had let nearly all of it loose…

Dark was powerless against Iblis now. He had let his brother's taunting get the better of him, and for that, he had to pay dearly for his mistake.

He brought his hands to his face and buried it in them, ashamed at himself for letting that happen. He had no chance of being able to hold Iblis off now, and Mephiles was still unable to move at all. The one chance he had to get rid of his brother, to ensure that him and Mephiles were to have that final battle, to earn any form of respect as he had craved after seeing Mephiles earn it… had all blown up in his face in a matter of seconds.

He felt a new emotion wash over him, one that was both unfamiliar and frightening to him. It made his chest feel heavy, making him have to pant to catch his breath. A shudder ran through him, his eyes began to water.

Then something just snapped.

He looked up swiftly with a dangerous look in his eyes, snarling like a wild animal as his fur began to stand in a ripple that spread down his body. His cat slit pupils contracted and he bared his teeth, drool dripping from his mouth as he let lose a guttural roar of fury, launching himself at Iblis at an incredible velocity that could be a touch away from Sonic's top speed.

Shadow stared in amazement as he snatched up the last Ring, and hurried back to Rouge and Mephiles, the latter looking worse for the wear, making Rouge's limp wing nothing in comparison.

"How's he doing?"

"Terrible…" Rouge shook her head sadly. "He's hallucinating. I think he thinks he sees his mother… he just kept whispering that…"

"Don't worry now… I've got the Rings…"

"What happened to Dark?"

"I dunno exactly…" Shadow shook his head as he set the Rings down and grabbed the backpacks to dump out the Emeralds. "But from the looks of it, Dark let too much energy out, and Iblis either canceled it or took it. Dark's gone mad now…"

He set the Emeralds quickly around Mephiles in a circle, tossing the Rings in a pile and sliding two of them into Mephiles limp hands, the hedgehog groaning in pain softly.

"Hang in there… Dark thinks this might help you…" Shadow reassured him, folding Mephiles' fingers around the loop of the Rings. "The Rings should help as well…"

"… Sh… Sha… Shadow..?" The hedgehog open his eyes slowly, locking his pain filled gaze with the other's. "… I'm s-sorry… f-for everything…"

"You don't have to be… I forgave you a long time ago…" Shadow didn't like where it seemed Mephiles was taking this. "And don't you even think of dying right here or right now…"

Mephiles smiled faintly and gave a weak nod, wincing when he felt a bone in his back crack.

"… I hope th-this works…"

"You and me both…" Shadow stepped back.

Mephiles didn't know what to do. He had never used this many Emeralds before.

He let his eyes drift shut as an incredible feeling washed over his body, feeling his pain go away.

Shadow and Rouge watched as the rainbow colors of the Emeralds mixed with his Aura, until finally flaring out in a bright light, causing the pair to shield their eyes.

When the light cleared, they looked up and found Mephiles floating upright, a serene look on his face as he started to smile gently.

Shadow and Rouge gasped softly, seeing that Mephiles was very much different now.

The crystals were absent from his body, the only traces that they has existed where his markings. His top stripe was identical to Shadow's in style, his hands and feet markings covered them and extended to the middle of his forearms and shins, stopping in a triangular pattern, like the opposite of Shadow's. His tail looked like it had been dipped in the light blue color as well, and his eyebrows were as fuzzy looking as they always were.

The most notable thing was that his hands and feet were normal… not at all crystal.

He opened his eyes slowly, which they could see did not change, and he drifted slowly to the ground, his quills waving slightly in the wind as his purple Aura swirled around him.

"What happened?" He asked in confusion, taking his hands and holding them up to his face. "Oh, my… My crystals are gone!"

"It looks like you have a Super form after all, Meph…" Shadow said in astonishment, eyeing the hedgehog carefully. "That's unusual… I thought that Super forms were all golden…"

"Apparently not…" Mephiles muttered, checking himself over, turning his head to look behind himself to look at his tail, which no longer had crystals that stuck out at sometimes uncomfortable angles. Then he realized something very important, and began jumping up and down in his excitement. "Hey! My back's not broken anymore! I can move! _I'm okay!_"

"Good… now, I think Dark is in need of help." Shadow nodded and pointed to the demon, who was suddenly overwhelmed when Iblis caught him by the scruff and flung him into a tree. Dark shook his head and got to his feet shakily, that move having made his head spin, which was evident when he clapped both hands to his head.

"What's going on with him? He doesn't seem to be doing well against Iblis…"

"That's because Iblis drained his power…" Shadow explained, scooping the dull Emeralds back into the backpacks.

"WHAT?" Mephiles spun around to stare at Shadow with a wide eyed expression. "What did Dark do? Just let loose everything? I told him that was bad!"

"Apparently, he can't take taunting from Iblis…" Shadow shrugged. "Anyway… I'd say it's advisable for you to join in… I'd love to, but you've already used the Emeralds, and I don't know if you know how to share the power to turn me Super as well…"

"I don't think I do…" Mephiles clenched his teeth. "But I don't want to do this on my own…"

"You're gonna have to…"

Mephiles sighed and nodded, taking off a few inches off the ground and making his way over to the fight, Dark being hit with a fireball and toppling over, cursing under his breath as he hit the ground on his back.

"_… That one actually hurt…_" He growled, squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head. He waited for the next hit, but there seemed to be a sudden silence. He opened his eyes and shifted them up above him, letting them go wide. "_M-mephy!_" He was astounded.

Mephiles was standing over him, holding his hand out to offer him help.

"You look like you could use a little help…" Mephiles smirked, shaking his hand a bit to let him know that he was indeed offering the help to him.

Dark just stared before his eyes narrowed, jumping to his feet and shoving Mephiles away with as much strength he had left, Mephiles taking a few steps back and giving a bit of a sad expression. Dark was growling at him, his chest heaving up and down as he felt a surge of anger course through him.

"_GET AWAY FROM ME!_" He screamed, pointing at Mephiles as he took a couple of steps back. "_GET AWAY! I DON'T NEED _ANY_ HELP FROM YOU! I DON'T NEED _ANY_ HELP AT ALL! I'VE GOT THIS UNDER CONTROL! OUT OF MY SIGHT! NOW!_"

Mephiles was taken aback a bit at Dark's outburst, recovering quickly.

"You came to me for help to begin with…" Mephiles reminded him carefully, taking a step forward. "Remember? You said that this was too much for you…"

"_THAT WAS A MISTAKE! ALL YOU DID WAS LAUGH!_ HE'S _LAUGHING! SHADOW LAUGHED! MY BROTHER TAUNTED ME! AND NOW YOU'RE MOCKING ME WITH THAT FORM!_" Dark roared, lunging at Mephiles, raising his hands to claw at him in his rage as everyone watched Dark lose it again."_WHAT CAN I DO? NOTHING! HE'S DRAINED ME! _DRAINED!"

Mephiles caught him by the wrists to stop him, Dark struggling violently to break free.

"Dark… calm down… I'm not trying to mock you, this just happened…" Mephiles tried to get him to stop. "I don't know what's going on in your mind right now… so I don't know what the real problem is…"

Dark pulled as hard as he could, but it seemed like Mephiles was more powerful than him. That didn't settle with Dark very well, so he shrieked in anguish, his legs giving out, leaving him hanging limply against Mephiles' hold. Mephiles closed his eyes with a sigh, saddened to see Dark reduced to this.

"_… It's not fair… it's not… it's not…_" Dark whispered hoarsely, shaking his head slowly as he shuddered and gasped.

Mephiles looked up at Iblis in anger.

"What did you _do_to him?" He demanded.

Iblis recovered from his shock of seeing Mephiles in such a form and snickered at the fallen demon.

"_… I only drained his powers as far as I could…_" The flame demon smirked, holding up a hand and waggling a finger. "_… The rest was all on him…_"

"What do you mean? I've never seen him like this!"

"_… I mean that my brother is like a selfish little kid…_" Iblis laughed. "_… He wants things his way, and he can't stand you being more powerful than him… by letting him see you, you broke him completely…_"

Mephiles looked down and saw to his horror that Dark was actually crying, his head low as several sobs escaped him, the ground damp with tears. Mephiles looked up again and said: "Liar! You did something to him!"

"_… Why not ask him..? He might not give a straight answer, but I can assure you that that is the truth…_"

Mephiles felt his grip slip and Dark hit the ground, curling up tightly, echoing something that reminded Mephiles greatly of himself, and in a way, this sickened him.

Iblis saw this, and cackled, just enjoying this.

"_… So what are you going to do about it..? How does it feel to see the very one you feared for years just shatter like glass right before your very eyes..? Just like the little weakling he really is..?_"

Mephiles curled his hands into tight fists, his knuckles turning white from such a tight squeeze. A wind that seemed to originate from his Aura blew his quills around, and he narrowed his eyes dangerously, clenching his teeth.

"Dark is _not_weak…" He growled, shifting his foot back. "I have always been in fear of him because he can do so much more that I can… If he is weak… then you shouldn't have a problem finishing me off!"

At that, Mephiles charged at Iblis, a trail of purple tailing behind him to mark where he had been, but not nearly fast enough to show Shadow and Rouge where he was.

A grunt of pain met their ears, and the commotion cleared to show them that Mephiles was crouching on a still standing Iblis' chest, thrusting a supercharged Dark Spike into where his heart would be, Mephiles' eyes glowing purple and a smirk on his face as he pushed it deeper, laughing as Iblis stumbled back after he jumped back, executing a perfect back flip and landing exactly on his feet, throwing his head back to laugh at the demon's pain.

Iblis growled and looked up, locking eyes with Mephiles, who grinned at him.

"Never underestimate your opponent…"

"_… P-perhaps… but I have just one more ace in the hole…_" Iblis twisted his frown into a wicked grin, causing Mephiles' eyes to widen as the demon raised his hand and waved it casually.

Mephiles grunted as a heavy feeling of darkness loomed over him, forcing him down.

"W-what are you d-doing!" He stammered, feeling his confidence just fade away.

"_… I dunno if my brother t-told you that I have the power to also manipulate you as well… or did he not know as well..?_" Iblis held his other hand to his wound to try to hold back any blood that tried to seep through in a trickle through his fingers. "_… I w-wouldn't expect him to know… he never wanted to learn about me anyway… he's hated me since we were made… He only wanted to fuse because he thought he could tame me… the fool…_"

Mephiles clutched his head and fell to one knee as he tried to fight him off, finding to his horror that he was starting to lose.

Then Mephiles lifted his eyes from the ground, and Shadow and Rouge gasped when they saw them.

They were glowing orange!

"_… M-mephiles… attack them… now!_" Iblis barked.

Mephiles nodded and smirked viciously, disappearing from sight when he moved too fast to track.

Shadow looked around frantically, before a yelp caught his ears. He spun around and had to force himself not to scream.

Mephiles had Rouge in a chokehold, holding a Dark Spike like a knife just inches from her throat, his expression not at all like himself.

Rouge stayed perfectly still, pleading at Shadow with a look in the eyes for help.

"… Help him…" She mouthed.

Shadow nodded and cleared his throat, staying a safe distance from the pair to no provoke any harm on Rouge.

"Meph… I know you're there…" Shadow said carefully, holding his hands up. "I know you are… so please hear me… Don't let him control you…"

Mephiles let loose the most maniacal laughter Shadow had ever heard from him, drawing the Dark Spike closer to Rouge's throat, Rouge straining to pull back as the heat of it started to cause discomfort. Mephiles seemed like he was lost to them, but Shadow wasn't going to give up.

"Mephiles… if you hurt her… I'm _never_going to forgive you…" Shadow said a bit more loudly. "You won't be able to forgive yourself… you'll be living a nightmare for the rest of your life…"

"_… He c-can't hear you, Shadow…_" Iblis cackled, making his way slowly over to the trio, leaving Dark curled up on the ground after a few kicks in the side. "_… He's too deep in his mind to fight back… It's like train a cat to do a trick… it can't be done…_"

"Mephiles! After all you've done for us, and you're just letting him control you!" Shadow was getting desperate enough to try anything now, even harsh comments. "What happened to working hard to not lose! Are you just giving up!"

"_… I'm growing tired of your babbling…_" Iblis said, stopping right beside Shadow to watch the show. "_… Mephiles! Kill him first! Right through the heart!_" Iblis pointed to Shadow, whose eyes widened just a fraction.

Mephiles cackled and shoved Rouge to the ground, focusing his energy on making the Dark Spike more powerful. Shadow froze.

"_… That's it… you need to make sure he won't be getting up again…_"

"Meph! No!" Shadow pleaded with him. "You can't do this! I _know_you don't want to do this! You'd never want to hurt me or Rouge!"

"_Do it! The sooner he's dead, the sooner this is over with!_"

"Mephiles!"

The hedgehog in question laughed insanely, pulling his arm back to throw the Spike. He locked gazes with Shadow, smirking wickedly before his flung the Spike.

Shadow's eyes widened in surprise rather than fear however. The Spike did hit something… but it wasn't his heart. Or anything else that was his for that matter.

Iblis clutched at his chest with both hands as the Dark Spike passed through his body, leaving an entry and exit wound on either side. Iblis coughed, feeling blood against his teeth as he dropped to his knees, staring up at Mephiles, who was still laughing insanely with his head thrown back, eyes still orange.

Iblis didn't understand. How did Mephiles… disobey that direct… order..?

Everything went black…

…

…

…

…

…

Shadow and Rouge returned their attentions back to Mephiles, whose laughter began to change. The insanity began to leave, and within minutes, he was sobbing as he collapsed to his knees, crying his eyes out as a hiccupping fit took hold as well.

Rouge picked herself up off the ground and hurried over to him, wrapping her arms around him to comfort him.

Mephiles wanted to pull away, but he didn't think of what to do next if he did.

"I (hic) could have _killed_ you!" He screamed, unable to bring his hands to his face because his arms were pinned down from the embrace. "He just (hic) took over and (hic) I couldn't do anything! Oh God! Oh _God!_(hic hic)"

Shadow joined in trying to calm him down, placing a hand on his shoulder to show him that he was still there.

Mephiles howled in anguish, ultimately upset with himself.

"Meph… it's okay now…" Shadow said softly. "You didn't give in. You beat him…"

As Mephiles cried, his body glowed again and he changed back to normal in a blink. He was normal Mephiles again…

"(Hic) I almost killed you guys! I'm so (hic) sorry! But it was what Shadow (hic) said that let me break free! I can't live with myself (hic) if I hurt either of you!"

"But you didn't lose…" Shadow reassured him. "We're proud of you for not giving in…"

Mephiles nodded slowly and let himself relax a bit, forcing a smile on his face.

A clearing of the throat was heard, and the trio looked up to see Dark, arms folded and looking well worn. Wet trail marks down his muzzle were drying up.

"_… That's all very wonderful and all…_" He growled, rolling his eyes. "_But I do believe you forgot that you left me curled up on the ground… ingrates…_"

Mephiles snorted softly.

"G-glad to (hic) see that you're back to normal…"

"_… Not quite… there is the matter of Iblis having taken my powers, so I'm demanding that you help me restore them._"

"And why would (hic) I wanna do _that!_" Mephiles spoke up loudly, pulling away from Rouge, who had loosened her grip. "I'm sorry, but I just (hic) lived through the most heck I've ever seen… I need a break! What's to say you (hic) won't attack me once I get them restored?"

"_… Have you ever had a reason to distrust me during this ordeal? I've helped you out, so I say you owe me one at least several times over…_"

"How do you figure?"

"_One. Warning you of Iblis. Two. Helping you during that avalanche._" Dark ticked the numbers off on his fingers. "_Three. Giving you the suggestion to turn into mist to avoid getting killed. Four. Saving you before you hit the ground after your back was broken. Five. Collecting the Rings needed to help mend your back. I could go on… that's just the big things to name a few…_"

"Sorry, Dark…" Mephiles frowned and shook his head. "If you were nicer to me in the start, I'd say 'yes'… but I'm a bit wiser now. No. Not right now."

"_You insignificant pest! You owe me!_"

"Tell you what…" Mephiles said, having a quick thought. "How about I offer for you to join with us? You seem to be a good team player when you're not bent on helping only yourself, and we can help you with your problems."

" Problems? _What problems?_" Dark growled.

"I know you have some. Everyone does. You just showed them off today…"

"_I did not…_"

"I know you can't stand me being better than you…" Mephiles continued, standing up from the ground. "So what if you learn to handle it, and maybe we can be more in tune? Maybe our powers can be better and easier to control if the both of use are willing to work together?"

Mephiles held out his hand as an offering of friendship, only to have it swatted away with a great amount of force.

"_I don't need you. I don't need _anybody!" Dark hissed, shoving Mephiles back. "_Fine! If you don't want to help me get my powers back, I'll find my own way!_"

"Dark! I was just offering an alternative!" Mephiles said in surprise. "I meant that we could get them back if you let us help you control them and your anger problems! We can try the best we can! You could actually have friends!"

"_Let me think about that. No!_" Dark spun around and stormed off.

Mephiles stared for a moment in shock, before taking a step, only to be stopped by Shadow's hand around his wrist.

"Let him go, Meph. Ungrateful jerk doesn't want any help…" He growled.

Mephiles shook his head.

"You don't get it. Dark's acting out! I can feel it! He doesn't know what to do, so he's pushing everything away." Mephiles pulled his hand free, catching up to Dark so that he was walking backwards in front of him, faltering a bit so he didn't trip, Dark not showing any intentions of stopping. "Look, Dark… I know what you're thinking…"

"_No… you don't…_"

"No, I do. I've finally mastered how to read your thoughts!"

"_Whoopty freaking doo! You want a prize or something?_"

"Okay… stop being a jerkwad. I'm trying to help here…" Mephiles spun a bit around so that he could be walking side by side with him. "We've known each other for as long as you can remember. I've always been the weaker one until now. I know that that's upsetting you, since you're not used to it."

"_You must think you're something special…_"

"No. I don't." Mephiles shook his head as he quickened his pace. "But I can feel what you're really feeling, and you feel vulnerable and weak without all your powers. And then I just happen to take a better form, and that was just too much…"

"_Too late to change any of that… It's already been done…_" Dark stopped walking and folded his arms again, lowering his head to glare at Mephiles. "_How am I supposed to beat you now if I'm weaker than you?_"

"You don't have to try and do that!" Mephiles stopped in front of him. "You said that you were doing that because you're my doppelganger, and that's why you feel the need to get rid of me… because you think you need to."

"_How very observant of you…_" Dark rolled his eyes. "_How much of that do you think is actually true?_"

"All of it." Mephiles said simply, making Dark cringe slightly. "And the cringing is just confirming it…"

"_Well… what's your point?_"

"I'm saying that I think you don't have to go the way you've been going this whole time…" Mephiles smiled slightly, making Dark jump back.

"_I chose this way, and I'm going to go through with it!_" Dark hissed. "_No one tells me what to do!_"

"Not even your other side?" Mephiles grinned, pleased that he was getting somewhere with this. "Look, you told me that I get to choose the ending. You told me that, remember?"

"_Y-yes…_"

"So I'm making the ending of this conflict now. Let's not keep this up, and just leave it be. I enjoyed you being there to help me out, and after all that, I don't want it to just go back to the way it was before that…" Mephiles held his hand out again. "You have no idea how much you've really helped me, despite how much you've gotten me hurt."

"_How so?_" Dark eyed the hand with a bit of annoyance.

"Because of you, I had something to fight against. I had trials that made me a better person, because I learned from them. I learned how to fight, how to defend, how to get into my enemies' heads… you've made me smarter without even knowing it." Mephiles explained, Dark incredibly silent. "All the times you've helped, you've egged me on and never once let me give in, even if it was just for something you wanted. Because I was driven not to be like you… I became a kind and caring person. And… more than once… you saved my life… even from the start."

"_Start?_"

"If you hadn't fused to me and gotten out of there, I would have been killed by Iblis eleven years ago." Mephiles smiled softly then sighed. "I would have died those other times Iblis tried to kill me as well, and I would have died in that avalanche. Without realizing it, Dark… you're a bit of a hero."

Dark frowned and shook his head.

"_I can't be. It would conflict with your personality…_"

"I think you really know that you're not a doppelganger at all, Dark." Mephiles told him sternly. "You have a choice of what you really want to be… you don't have to be the opposite of me either. But that's only going to happen if you let it."

"_One cannot change their destiny or fate, Mephy…_"

"I did."

"_..._"

" Please Dark? Let's just stop this stupid fight, and start over. You feel like you belong with someone like you anyway, and I'm just what you need…"

"_… I dunno…_"

"Just try it…"

Dark sighed and scratched behind his torn ear.

"_Where do I start?_"

"Let me. Hi. I'm Mephiles the Hedgehog. It's nice to meet you." Mephiles waved his hand a bit to let Dark know that it was still waiting to be shaken.

"_… D-Dark the… uh… I dunno if I really like 'Demon' as a last name…_" Dark shifted his eyes up, feeling a line of red spread across his face.

"We'll figure something out." Mephiles grabbed his hand and shook it. "C'mon, everyone's waiting."

Dark nodded slowly, now feeling awkward about this. How did he end up agreeing to this? Did Mephiles learn that from him?

Mephiles led him back to Shadow and Rouge, both of them eyeing Dark anxiously, making Dark look away.

"Guys. Dark and I made an agreement." Mephiles started, grinning broadly. "He's going to stop trying to kill me, and he's agreed to take our help."

"Seriously?" Rouge blinked. "Wow… how'd you pull _that_one off?"

"It wasn't all that hard…" Mephiles laughed. "I just needed to talk to him."

"Well, if Meph sees some good in you…" Shadow said, walking up to Dark and tilting his head to the side. "I'm not complaining…" Shadow held out his hand too. "Welcome aboard."

"Hey… wait a minute, Shadow!" Mephiles exclaimed. "You weren't that accepting with me!"

"Well, Dark is a lot like you… and you seem to trust him now…" Shadow confessed, laughing nervously. "So, think of this as how I should have been with you…"

"Hmmph!" Mephiles folded his arms and pouted at this, getting Rouge to laugh.

"Mephiles, you know he's your friend." She reassured him.

"I know… but that's a little unfair."

"I'll tell you what, Meph…" Shadow put his arm around his shoulder, smirking in his usual way. "I'll make it up to you. How'd you like to have your own game system? I think you deserve it."

"You mean it?" Mephiles stopped pouting and looked up, his tail wagging a little. "I do?"

"We should have gotten you one a long time ago, really…"

Mephiles laughed and threw himself at Shadow, wrapping his arms loosely around his neck as a more age appropriate hug. Shadow responded by ruffling his quills, laughing as well.

Dark felt awkward at this group now and simply stayed back. Rouge saw this and walked over to him.

"Well, if I've manage to help these two boys…" She told him with a bit of a grin. "I should have no problem with you…"

"_Th-thank you?_"

"Don't thank me… thank Mephiles. He didn't have to do that for you."

"_… I dunno how he ended up like this…_" Dark muttered, shaking his head. "_… All that time I spent trying to make him just like me, and he turns out as different as he could get… maybe I was the weak one after all…_"

"I dunno… you showed quite some display of willing to help him today…" Rouge said. "Maybe the real you is deeper down… and you've just been pushing him away…"

"_Why would I do that?_"

"Maybe because you're really just a scared little kid deep down…" Rouge said, trying her best to figure it out. "You had an older brother that overpowered you, and from the moment you were made, you'd been running from him. Maybe, really… subconsciously… you were using Mephiles as your shield, and you hoped that Mephiles would help you when the time came to face your brother."

"_If it is… I don't remember it…_"

"Maybe Mephiles isn't the only one that suffered from amnesia for a very long time…" She offered. "You mentioned that you had it briefly… but maybe it was longer than you thought…"

"_… Maybe…_" Dark said slowly. "_How much of me to I have to change?_"

"Just the 'trying to kill' and 'trying to be master string puller' part."

"_But the second one is part of who I am!_"

"Maybe we can find a hobby that can cultivate that…" Rouge shrugged. "Just, stop trying to kill Mephiles. We want him around for a very long time…"

"_Okay… I get it…_"

"You better…"

* * *

And that's all... ^^;


End file.
